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A coxcomb is one whom simpletons believe to be a man of merit.

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
Coxcomb
Simpletons
Merit
Ignorance
Believe
Men

More quotes by Jean de la Bruyere

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Love has this in common with scruples, that it becomes embittered by the reflections and the thoughts that beset us to free ourselves.
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A simple garb is the proper costume of the vulgar it is cut for them, and exactly suits their measure, but it is an ornament for those who have filled up their lives with great deeds. I liken them to beauty in dishabille, but more bewitching on that account.
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The events we most desire do not happen or, if they do, it is neither in the time nor in the circumstances when they would have given us extreme pleasure.
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The pleasure a man of honor enjoys in the consciousness of having performed his duty is a reward he pays himself for all his pains.
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We perceive when love begins and when it declines by our embarrassment when alone together.
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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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I take sanctuary in an honest mediocrity.
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Some people pretend they never were in love and never wrote poetry two weaknesses which they dare not own -- one of the heart, the other of the mind.
Jean de la Bruyere
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I call worldly or earthly those whose minds and hearts are fixed on a tiny portion of this world they live in, which is our earth who respect and love nothing beyond it: people as limited as what they call their property or their estate, which can be measured, whose acres can be counted, whose boundaries can be shown.
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The highest reach of a news-writer is an empty Reasoning on Policy, and vain Conjectures on the public Management.
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Cunning is none of the best nor worst qualities it floats between virtue and vice there is scarce any exigence where it may not, and perhaps ought not to be supplied by prudence.
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The first day one is a guest, the second a burden, and the third a pest.
Jean de la Bruyere
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We all covet wealth, but not its perils.
Jean de la Bruyere
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A man starts upon a sudden, takes Pen, Ink, and Paper, and without ever having had a thought of it before, resolves within himself he will write a Book he has no Talent at Writing, but he wants fifty Guineas.
Jean de la Bruyere
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How happy the station which every moment furnishes opportunities of doing good to thousands! How dangerous that which every moment exposes to the injuring of millions!
Jean de la Bruyere
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If a handsome woman allows that another woman is beautiful, we may safely conclude she excels her.
Jean de la Bruyere
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As long as men are liable to die and are desirous to live, a physician will be made fun of, but he will be well paid.
Jean de la Bruyere
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I cannot forbid a person to marry several wives, for it does not contradict Scripture. MARTIN LUTHER, letter to Chancellor Gregory Brück, January 13, 1524 Marriage, it seems, confines every man to his proper rank.
Jean de la Bruyere
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Children enjoy the present because they have neither a past nor a future.
Jean de la Bruyere
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All the worth of some people lies in their name upon a closer inspection it dwindles to nothing, but from a distance it deceives us.
Jean de la Bruyere