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A man is ridiculous less through the characteristics he has than through those he affects to have.
Francois de La Rochefoucauld
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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
Men
Affects
Characteristics
Ridiculous
Less
More quotes by Francois de La Rochefoucauld
What we take for virtue is often but an assemblage of various ambitions and activities that chance, or our own astuteness, have arranged in a certain manner and it is not always out of courage or purity that men are brave, and women chaste.
Francois de La Rochefoucauld
Nothing is rarer than real goodness.
Francois de La Rochefoucauld
Truth has scarce done so much good in the world as the false appearances of it have done hurt.
Francois de La Rochefoucauld
Avarice misapprehends itself almost always. There is no passion which more often will miss its aim, nor upon which the present has so much influence to the prejudice of the future.
Francois de La Rochefoucauld
Magnanimity is sufficiently defined by its name, nevertheless one can say it is the good sense of pride, the most noble way of receiving praise.
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
There are a great many men valued in society who have nothing to recommend them but serviceable vices.
Francois de La Rochefoucauld
Our actions seem to have their lucky and unlucky stars, to which a great part of that blame and that commendation is due which is given to the actions themselves.
Francois de La Rochefoucauld
The desire of appearing clever often prevents our becoming so.
Francois de La Rochefoucauld
We are all strong enough to bear other men's misfortunes.
Francois de La Rochefoucauld
What we take for virtue is often nothing but an assemblage of different actions, and of different interests, that fortune or our industry knows how to arrange.
Francois de La Rochefoucauld
Love's greatest miracle is the curing of coquetry.
Francois de La Rochefoucauld
The appearances of goodness and merit often meet with a greater reward from the world than goodness and merit themselves.
Francois de La Rochefoucauld
Some reproaches praise some praises reproach.
Francois de La Rochefoucauld
Moderation is a fear of falling into that envy and contempt which those who grow giddy with their good fortune quite justly draw upon themselves. It is a vain boasting of the greatness of our mind.
Francois de La Rochefoucauld
Vices are ingredients of virtues just as poisons are ingredients of remedies. Prudence mixes and tempers them and uses them effectively against life's ills.
Francois de La Rochefoucauld
The intellect of the generality of women serves more to fortify their folly than their reason.
Francois de La Rochefoucauld
The rust of business is sometimes polished off in a camp but never in a court.
Francois de La Rochefoucauld
The esteem of good men is the reward of our worth, but the reputation of the world in general is the gift of our fate.
Francois de La Rochefoucauld
The most clever and polite are content with only seeming attentive while we perceive in their mind and eyes that at the very time they are wandering from what is said and desire to return to what they want to say.
Francois de La Rochefoucauld
