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It is such a great fault to talk too much that, in business and conversation, if what is good is also brief, it is doubly good, and one gains by brevity what one often loses by an excess of words.
Madeleine de Souvre, marquise de Sable
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Madeleine de Souvre, marquise de Sable
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More quotes by Madeleine de Souvre, marquise de Sable
We judge matters so superficially that ordinary acts and words, done and spoken with some flair and some knowledge of worldly matters, often succeed better than the greatest cleverness.
Madeleine de Souvre, marquise de Sable
All the great amusements are dangerous for the Christian life.
Madeleine de Souvre, marquise de Sable
In knowledge of human affairs, we should never allow our minds to be enslaved by others by subjecting ourselves to their whims. We must maintain freedom of thought, and never accept anything of purely human authority into our heads. When we are presented with a diversity of opinions, we must choose, if we can if we cannot, we must remain in doubt.
Madeleine de Souvre, marquise de Sable
It is vain and useless to survey everything that goes on in the world if our study does not help us mend our ways.
Madeleine de Souvre, marquise de Sable
There is no one who cannot derive great help and great benefit from learning but there are also only a few people who do not receive a great harm from the light and knowledge they have received by learning, unless they use their knowledge in a manner both fit and natural for them.
Madeleine de Souvre, marquise de Sable
Often our good deeds make enemies for us, and the ungrateful person despises us on two counts for he is not only unwilling to acknowledge the gratitude he owes us: he does not want to have his benefactor as witness to his thankless behavior.
Madeleine de Souvre, marquise de Sable
Often the desire to appear competent impedes our ability to become competent, because we more anxious to display our knowledge than to learn what we do not know.
Madeleine de Souvre, marquise de Sable
We must accustom ourselves to the follies of others and not be astonished at the foolishness that takes place in our presence.
Madeleine de Souvre, marquise de Sable
The ties of virtue ought to be closer than the ties of blood, since the good man is closer to another good man by their similarity of morals than the son is to his father by their similarity of face.
Madeleine de Souvre, marquise de Sable
Those who foolishly pride themselves on their nobility mistake that which makes them noble, for it is only the virtue of their ancestors that gives them noble blood.
Madeleine de Souvre, marquise de Sable
Wealth does not teach us to transcend the desire for wealth. The possession of many goods does not bring the repose of not desiring them.
Madeleine de Souvre, marquise de Sable
He who uses trickery should at least make use of his judgment to learn that he can scarcely hide treacherous conduct for very long among clever men who are determined to find him out, although they may pretend to be deceived in order to disguise their knowledge of his deceitfulness.
Madeleine de Souvre, marquise de Sable
Good results are sometimes owing to a failure of judgment, because the faculty of judgment often hinders us from undertaking many things which would succeed if carried through without thinking.
Madeleine de Souvre, marquise de Sable
We would often rather seem dutiful to others than to succeed in our duties and often we would rather tell our friends that we have done them good than to do good in actuality.
Madeleine de Souvre, marquise de Sable
We often value the exterior and superficial aspect of things more than their inner reality. Bad manners taint everything even justice and reason. The 'how' of things matters most, and even the most disagreeable matters can be sweetened and gilded over with the proper appearance. Such is the bias and the weakness of the human mind.
Madeleine de Souvre, marquise de Sable
The shame that comes to us as we see ourselves praised when we are unworthy of it often gives us the occasion to accomplish things that we might never have achieved without such undeserved praise.
Madeleine de Souvre, marquise de Sable
It is a strength of character to acknowledge our failings and our strong points, and it is a weakness of character not to remain in harmony with both the good and the bad that is within us.
Madeleine de Souvre, marquise de Sable
Honest and sincere acts mislead the wicked and cause them to lose their path to their own goals, because mean-spirited people usually believe that people never act without deceit.
Madeleine de Souvre, marquise de Sable
Self-love is almost always the ruling principle of our friendships. It makes us avoid all our obligations in unprofitable situations, and even causes us to forget our hostility towards our enemies when they become powerful enough to help us achieve fame or fortune.
Madeleine de Souvre, marquise de Sable
It is a very trying task for deceitful people, always to have to cover up their lack of sincerity and to repair the breaking of their word.
Madeleine de Souvre, marquise de Sable