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It is a sad thing when men have neither enough intelligence to speak well nor enough sense to hold their tongues this is the root of all impertinence.

Jean de la Bruyere

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Jean de la Bruyere
Age: 50 †
Born: 1645
Born: August 16
Died: 1696
Died: May 10
Aphorist
Essayist
French Moralist
Lawyer
Philosopher
Translator
Writer
Paris
France
Jean de La Bruyere
Speak
Tongues
Sense
Wit
Wells
Root
Well
Tongue
Enough
Intelligence
Thing
Neither
Men
Judgment
Hold
Impertinence

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Among some people arrogance supplies the place of grandeur, inhumanity of decision, and roguery of intelligence.
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He who only writes to suit the taste of the age, considers himself more than his writings. We should always aim at perfection, and then posterity will do us that justice which sometimes our contemporaries refuse us.
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Anything is a temptation to those who dread it.
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Rarely do they appear great before their valets. [Fr., Rarement ils sont grands vis-a-vis de leur valets-de-chambre.]
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A mediocre mind thinks it writes divinely a good mind thinks it writes reasonably.
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It is the glory and merit of some men to write well and of others not to write at all.
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It is better to expose ourselves to ingratitude than to neglect our duty to the distressed.
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It is no more in our power to love always than it was not to love at all.
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One seeks to make the loved one entirely happy, or, if that cannot be, entirely wretched.
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One mark of a second-rate mind is to be always telling stories.
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There are but three events which concern man: birth, life and death. They are unconscious of their birth, they suffer when they die, and they neglect to live.
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For some people, speaking and giving offence are one and the same thing. They are spiteful and bitter their style is infused with gall and wormwood mockery, abuse and insults flow from their lips like spittle.
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To make a book is as much a trade as to make a clock something more than intelligence is required to become an author.
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False glory is the rock of vanity it seduces men to affect esteem by things which they indeed possess, but which are frivolous, and which for a man to value himself on would be a scandalous error.
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If it be true that a man is rich who wants nothing, a wise man is a very rich man.
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We can recognize the dawn and the decline of love by the uneasiness we feel when alone together.
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If it be usual to be strongly impressed by things that are scarce, why are we so little impressed by virtue?
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All the world says of a coxcomb that he is a coxcomb but no one dares to say so to his face, and he dies without knowing it.
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It takes talent to please the people in a sermon by a flowery style, a cheerful ethic, brilliant sallies and lively descriptions but such a talent is inadequate. A better sort of talent neglects these extraneous ornaments, unworthy to be used in the service of the Gospel: such a preacher's sermon will be simple, strong and Christian.
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Genius and great abilities are often wanting sometimes, only opportunities. Some deserve praise for what they have done others for what they would have done.
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