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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.

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
Voice
Emphasis
Language
Require
Littles
Tone
Little
Kept
Great
Expression
Clothed
Things
Style
Delivery
Told
Spoiled
Simply
Lofty

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The passion of hatred is so long lived and so obstinate a malady that the surest sign of death in a sick person is their desire for reconciliation.
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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.]
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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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The most amiable people are those who least wound the self-love of others.
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It is boorish to live ungraciously: the giving is the hardest part what does it cost to add a smile?
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There is no employment in the world so laborious as that of making to one's self a great name life ends before one has scarcely made the first rough draught of his work.
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Love receives its death-wound from aversion, and forgetfulness buries it.
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Two persons cannot long be friends if they cannot forgive each other's little failings.
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You think him to be your dupe if he feigns to be so who is the greater dupe, he or you?
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Most men spend the first half of their lives making the second half miserable.
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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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It is more or less rude to scorn indiscriminately all kinds of praise we ought to be proud of that which comes from honest men, who praise sincerely those things in us which are really commendable.
Jean de la Bruyere
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Next to sound judgment, diamonds and pearls are the rarest things in the world.
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It is through madness that we hate an enemy, and think of revenging ourselves and it is through indolence that we are appeased, and do not revenge ourselves.
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A man is rich whose income is larger than his expenses, and he is poor if his expenses are greater than his income.
Jean de la Bruyere
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A man without characteristics is a most insipid character.
Jean de la Bruyere
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A man who knows how to make good bargains or finds his money increase in his coffers, thinks presently that he has a good deal of brains and is almost fit to be a statesman.
Jean de la Bruyere
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Friendship * * * is a long time in forming, it is of slow growth, through many trials and months of familiarity.
Jean de la Bruyere
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I am told so many ill things of a man, and I see so few in him, that I begin to suspect he has a real but troublesome merit, as being likely to eclipse that of others.
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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.
Jean de la Bruyere