Share
×
Inspirational Quotes
Authors
Professions
Topics
Tags
Quote
Whatever pretended causes we may blame our afflictions upon, it is often nothing but self-interest and vanity that produce them.
Francois de La Rochefoucauld
Share
Change background
T
T
T
Change font
Original
TAGS & TOPICS
Francois de La Rochefoucauld
Age: 66 †
Born: 1613
Born: September 15
Died: 1680
Died: March 17
Memoirist
Military Personnel
Writer
Paris
France
François VI
Duc de La Rochefoucauld
Prince de Marcillac
François
Duc de La Rochefoucauld
Vanity
May
Blame
Nothing
Produce
Self
Causes
Interest
Whatever
Afflictions
Pretended
Upon
Affliction
Often
More quotes by Francois de La Rochefoucauld
It is a mistake to imagine, that the violent passions only, such as ambition and love, can triumph over the rest. Idleness, languid as it is, often masters them all she influences all our designs and actions, and insensibly consumes and destroys both passions and virtues.
Francois de La Rochefoucauld
In all professions each affects a look and an exterior to appear what he wishes the world to believe that he is. Thus we may say that the whole world is made up of appearances.
Francois de La Rochefoucauld
Sincerity is a certain openness of heart. It is to be found in very few, and what we commonly look upon to be so is only a cunningsort of dissimulation, to insinuate ourselves into the confidence of others.
Francois de La Rochefoucauld
Nothing is rarer than real goodness.
Francois de La Rochefoucauld
Gratitude is like the good faith of traders: it maintains commerce, and we often pay, not because it is just to discharge our debts, but that we may more readily find people to trust us.
Francois de La Rochefoucauld
Penetration has an air of divination it pleases our vanity more than any other quality of the mind.
Francois de La Rochefoucauld
Youth changes its tastes by the warmth of its blood age retains its tastes by habit.
Francois de La Rochefoucauld
The passions do very often give birth to others of a nature most contrary to their own. Thus avarice sometimes brings forth prodigality, and prodigality avarice a man's resolution is very often the effect of levity, and his boldness that of cowardice and fear.
Francois de La Rochefoucauld
The generality of friends puts us out of conceit with friendship just as the generality of religious people puts us out of conceit with religion.
Francois de La Rochefoucauld
Numberless arts appear foolish whose secret motives are most wise and weighty.
Francois de La Rochefoucauld
The more one loves a mistress, the more one is ready to hate her.
Francois de La Rochefoucauld
A wise man should order his interests, and set them all in their proper places. This order is often troubled by greed, which putsus upon pursuing so many things at once that, in eagerness for matters of less consideration, we grasp at trifles, and let go things of greater value.
Francois de La Rochefoucauld
Love can no more continue without a constant motion than fire can and when once you take hope and fear away, you take from it its very life and being.
Francois de La Rochefoucauld
Humility is the sure evidence of Christian virtues. Without it, we retain all our faults still, and they are only covered over with pride, which hides them from other men's observation, and sometimes from our own too.
Francois de La Rochefoucauld
When we enlarge upon the affection our friends have for us, this is very often not so much out of a sense of gratitude as from a desire to persuade people of our own great worth, that can deserve so much kindness.
Francois de La Rochefoucauld
Friendship is only a reciprocal conciliation of interests, and an exchange of good offices it is a species of commerce out of which self-love always expects to gain something.
Francois de La Rochefoucauld
A well-trained mind has less difficulty in submitting to than in guiding an ill-trained mind.
Francois de La Rochefoucauld
We should gain more by letting the world see what we are than by trying to seem what we are not.
Francois de La Rochefoucauld
Jealousy is always born with love, but does not die with it. In jealousy there is more of self-love than of love to another.
Francois de La Rochefoucauld
Only the great can afford to have great defects.
Francois de La Rochefoucauld
