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It is better that great peoples should seek out glory, or even vanity, in their deeds, than that they should remain indifferent . For even if they are not incited to act upon virtuous principles, at least there is the saving grace that they will do things they might not have done had not vanity prompted their actions.

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

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There is as much wisdom in soliciting good counsel as in giving it. The most sensible people are not reluctant to consider the feelings of other people and to know how to submit to the wise guidance of others is a kind of wisdom in itself.
Madeleine de Souvre, marquise de Sable
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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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When High and Mighty people want to make us believe that they possess some good quality which they in fact do not have, it is dangerous to show that you doubt them because, by removing their hope of deceiving the world, you also remove their desire to perform the good acts that might have arisen from their very pretensions.
Madeleine de Souvre, marquise de Sable
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When an opinionated person starts to challenge something, his mind shuts out all that could clear up the matter. The argument irritates him, however just it might be, and it seems that he is afraid of discovering the truth.
Madeleine de Souvre, marquise de Sable
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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
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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
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It is a singular characteristic of love that we cannot hide it where it exists, or pretend it where it does not exist.
Madeleine de Souvre, marquise de Sable
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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
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Love is always master everywhere. It shapes the soul, the heart, and the mind wherever it exists. What matters is not the amount of love, but simply its existence in the mind and heart where it resides. And it truly appears that love is to the soul of the lover as the soul itself is to the body which it animates.
Madeleine de Souvre, marquise de Sable
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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
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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
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Instead of taking care to acquaint ourselves with others, we only think of making ourselves known to them. It would be better to listen to other people in order to become enlightened rather than to speak so as to shine in front of them.
Madeleine de Souvre, marquise de Sable
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We need not regard what good a friend has done us, but only his desire to do us good.
Madeleine de Souvre, marquise de Sable
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We prefer people who are trying to imitate us more than those who are trying to equal us. This is because imitation is a sign of esteem, but the desire to equal others is a sign of envy.
Madeleine de Souvre, marquise de Sable
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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
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Although most friendships that exist do not merit the name, we can nevertheless make use of them in accordance with our needs, as a kind of commercial venture based on uncertain foundations and in which we are very often deceived.
Madeleine de Souvre, marquise de Sable
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It is sometimes useful to pretend we are deceived, because when we show a deceiving man that we see through his artifices, we only encourage him to increase his deceptions.
Madeleine de Souvre, marquise de Sable
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Virtue is not always where it seems to be. People sometimes acknowledge favors only to maintain their reputations, and to make themselves more impudently ungrateful for favors that they do not wish to acknowledge.
Madeleine de Souvre, marquise de Sable
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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
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There are petty-minded people who cannot endure to be reminded of their ignorance because, since they are usually quite blind to all things, quite foolish, and quite ignorant, they never question anything, and are persuaded that they see clearly what in fact they never see at all, save through the darkness of their own dispositions.
Madeleine de Souvre, marquise de Sable