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Loyalty is in most people only a ruse used by self-interest to attract confidence.

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
Self
People
Ruse
Attract
Loyalty
Confidence
Interest
Used

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There are two sorts of constancy in love one arises from continually discovering in the loved person new subjects for love, the other arises from our making a merit of being constant.
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In friendship as well as love, ignorance very often contributes more to our happiness than knowledge.
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Our own distrust gives a fair pretence for the knavery of other people.
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Self-interest speaks all manner of tongues and plays all manner of parts, even that of disinterestedness.
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The extreme delight we experience in talking about ourselves should warn us that those who listen do not share it.
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The great interests of man: air and light, the joy of having a body, the voluptuousness of looking.
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Οur own distrust somewhat justifies the deceit of others.
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The fondness or indifference that the philosophers expressed for life was merely a preference inspired by their self-love, and will no more bear reasoning upon than the relish of the palate or the choice of colors.
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Sometimes there are accidents in our lives the skillful extrication from which demands a little folly.
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Love of glory, fear of shame, greed for fortune, the desire to make life agreeable and comfortable, and the wish to depreciate others - all of these are often the causes of the bravery that is spoken so highly of by men.
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He who lives without committing any folly is not so wise as he thinks. [Fr., Qui vit sans folie n'est pas si sage qu'il croit.]
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We should desire very few things passionately if we did but perfectly know the nature of the things we desire.
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Mediocre minds usually dismiss anything which reaches beyond their own understanding.
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However greatly we distrust the sincerity of those we converse with, yet still we think they tell more truth to us than to anyone else.
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There is a kind of elevation which does not depend on fortune it is a certain air which distinguishes us, and seems to destine us for great things it is a price which we imperceptibly set upon ourselves.
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In misfortune we often mistake dejection for constancy we bear it without daring to look on it like cowards, who suffer themselves to be murdered without resistance.
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Hypocrisy is the homage vice pays to virtue.
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Virtues lose themselves in self-interest, as rivers in the sea.
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Were we perfectly acquainted with the object, we should never passionately desire it.
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