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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.

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
Sometimes
Suit
Writing
Suits
Always
Aim
Refuse
Contemporaries
Perfection
Considers
Taste
Writings
Justice
Posterity
Age
Writes

More quotes by Jean de la Bruyere

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The flatterer does not think highly enough of himself or of others.
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A position of eminence makes a great person greater and a small person less.
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The slave has but one master, the ambitious man has as many as there are persons whose aid may contribute to the advancement of his fortunes.
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When we have run through all forms of government, without partiality to that we were born under, we are at a loss with which to side they are all a compound of good and evil. It is therefore most reasonable and safe to value that of our own country above all others, and to submit to it.
Jean de la Bruyere
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It seems to me that the spirit of politeness is a certain attention in causing that, by our words and by our manners, others may be content with us and with themselves.
Jean de la Bruyere
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A man only goes and confesses his faults to the world when his self will not acknowledge or listen to them. WYNDHAM LEWIS, Tarr Two persons will not be friends long if they are not inclined to pardon each other's little failings.
Jean de la Bruyere
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Sudden love is latest cured.
Jean de la Bruyere
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The court is like a palace built of marble I mean that it is made up of very hard but very polished people. [Fr., La cour est comme un edifice bati de marbre je veux dire qu'elle est composee d'hommes fort durs mais fort polis.]
Jean de la Bruyere
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We wish to constitute all the happiness, or, if that cannot be, the misery of the one we love.
Jean de la Bruyere
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Children have neither past nor future and that which seldom happens to us, they rejoice in the present. [Fr., Les enfants n'ont ni passe ni avenir et, ce qui ne nous arrive guere, ils jouissent du present.]
Jean de la Bruyere
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Outward simplicity befits ordinary men, like a garment made to measure for them but it serves as an adornment to those who have filled their lives with great deeds: they might be compared to some beauty carelessly dressed and thereby all the more attractive.
Jean de la Bruyere
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During the course of our life we now and then enjoy some pleasures so inviting, and have some encounters of so tender a nature, that though they are forbidden, it is but natural to wish that they were at least allowable. Nothing can be more delightful, except it be to abandon them for virtue's sake.
Jean de la Bruyere
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A great mind is above insults, injustice, grief, and raillery, and would be invulnerable were it not open to compassion.
Jean de la Bruyere
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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 man unattached and without wife, if he have any genius at all, may raise himself above his original position, may mingle with the world of fashion, and hold himself on a level with the highest this is less easy for him who is engaged it seems as if marriage put the whole world in their proper rank.
Jean de la Bruyere
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A man reveals his character even in the simplest things he does.
Jean de la Bruyere
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Laziness begat wearisomeness, and this put men in quest of diversions, play and company, on which however it is a constant attendant he who works hard, has enough to do with himself otherwise.
Jean de la Bruyere
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When a work lifts your spirits and inspires bold and noble thoughts in you, do not look for any other standard to judge by: the work is good, the product of a master craftsman.
Jean de la Bruyere
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Most men spend the first half of their lives making the second half miserable.
Jean de la Bruyere
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Men regret their life has been ill-spent, but this does not always induce them to make a better use of the time they have yet to live.
Jean de la Bruyere