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There is a false modesty, which is vanity a false glory, which is levity a false grandeur, which is meanness a false virtue, which is hypocrisy, and a false wisdom, which is prudery.

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
Virtue
Levity
Wisdom
Meanness
Grandeur
Modesty
Hypocrisy
Vanity
False
Glory
Prudery

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Tyranny has no need of arts or sciences, for its policy, which is very shallow and without any refinement, only consists in shedding blood.
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High birth is a gift of fortune which should never challenge esteem towards those who receive it, since it costs them neither study nor labor.
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The fears of old age disturb us, yet how few attain it?
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There is not in the world so toilsome a trade as the pursuit of fame life concludes before you have so much as sketched your work.
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Between good sense and good taste there lies the difference between a cause and its effect.
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The beginning and the end of love are both marked by embarrassment when the two find themselves alone. [Fr., Le commencement et le declin de l'amour se font sentir par l'embarras ou l'on est de se trouver seuls.]
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A person's worth in this world is estimated according to the value he puts on himself.
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In Friendship we only see those faults which may be prejudicial to our friends. In love we see no faults but those by which we suffer ourselves.
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When what you read elevates your mind and fills you with noble aspirations, look for no other rule by which to judge a book it is good, and is the work of a master-hand.
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Great things only require to be simply told, for they are spoiled by emphasis but little things should be clothed in lofty language, as they are only kept up by expression, tone of voice, and style of delivery.
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If a secret is revealed, the person who has confided it to another is to be blamed.
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Physiognomy is not a guide that has been given us by which to judge of the character of men: it may only serve us for conjecture. [Fr., La physionomie n'est pas une regle qui nous soit donnee pour juger des hommes elle nous peut servir de conjecture.]
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Making a book is a craft, like making a clock it needs more than native wit to be an author.
Jean de la Bruyere
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A dogmatic tone is generally inspired by abysmal ignorance. The man who knows nothing thinks he is informing others of something which he has that moment learnt the man who knows a great deal can scarcely believe that people are ignorant of what he is telling them, and speaks more diffidently.
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It would be a kind of ferocity to reject indifferently all sorts of praise. One should be glad to have that which comes from good men who praise in sincerity things that are really praiseworthy.
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Rarely do they appear great before their valets.
Jean de la Bruyere
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A man who is free and unmarried, if he has some intelligence, can rise above his fortune, mingle in society and meet the best people on an equal footing. This is harder for a married man: marriage, it seems, confines every man to his proper rank.
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Manners carry the world for the moment, character for all time.
Jean de la Bruyere
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It is better to expose ourselves to ingratitude than to neglect our duty to the distressed.
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Discretion is the perfection of reason, and a guide to us in all the duties of life. It is only found in men of sound sense and understanding.
Jean de la Bruyere