We would rather run ourselves down than not speak of ourselves at all.
Francois de La Rochefoucauld
François de La Rochefoucauld, 2nd Duke of La Rochefoucauld, Prince de Marcillac was an accomplished French moralist of the era of French Classical literature and author of Maximes and Memoirs, the only two works of his dense literary œuvre published. His Maximes portrays the callous nature of human conduct, with a cynical attitude towards putative virtue and avowals of affection, friendship, love, and loyalty. Leonard Tancock regards Maximes as "one of the most deeply felt, most intensely lived texts in French literature", with his "experience, his likes and dislikes, sufferings and petty spites ... crystallized into absolute truths."
Quotes
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We sometimes imagine we hate flattery, but we only hate the way we are flattered.
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Perfect courage means doing unwitnessed what he would be capable of with the world looking on.
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It is as common for tastes to change as it is uncommon for traits of character.
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To establish oneself in the world, one does all one can to seem established there already.
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All of us have sufficient fortitude to bear the misfortunes of others.
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Good advice is something a man gives when he is too old to set a bad example.
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Preserving health by too severe a rule is a worrisome malady.
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To establish oneself in the world, one has to do all one can to appear established.
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It is often merely for an excuse that we say things are impossible.
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Quarrels would not last long if the fault were only on one side.
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We often do good in order that we may do evil with impunity.
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The truest mark of being born with great qualities, is being born without envy.