“Mediocre minds usually dismiss anything which reaches beyond their own understanding.” Francois de La Rochefoucauld
“If it were not for the company of fools, a witty man would often be greatly at a loss.” Francois de La Rochefoucauld FoolWitty
“Decency is the least of all laws, but yet it is the law which is most strictly observed.” Francois de La Rochefoucauld Law
“What seems to be generosity is often no more than disguised ambition, which overlooks a small interest in order to secure a great one.” Francois de La Rochefoucauld Ambition
“A great many men's gratitude is nothing but a secret desire to hook in more valuable kindnesses hereafter.” Francois de La Rochefoucauld Desire
“The force we use on ourselves, to prevent ourselves from loving, is often more cruel than the severest treatment at the hands of one loved.” Francois de La Rochefoucauld Love
“The defects and faults of the mind are like wounds in the body; after all imaginable care has been taken to heal them up, still there will be a scar left behind, and they are in continual danger of breaking the skin and bursting out again.” Francois de La Rochefoucauld Care
“Politeness is a desire to be treated politely, and to be esteemed polite oneself.” Francois de La Rochefoucauld Desire
“It is a great act of cleverness to be able to conceal one's being clever.” Francois de La Rochefoucauld
“In friendship as well as love, ignorance very often contributes more to our happiness than knowledge.” Francois de La Rochefoucauld FriendsIgnoranceKnowledgeLove
“A work can become modern only if it is first postmodern. Postmodernism thus understood is not modernism at its end but in the nascent state, and this state is constant.” Francois de La Rochefoucauld Work
“Nature seems at each man's birth to have marked out the bounds of his virtues and vices, and to have determined how good or how wicked that man shall be capable of being.” Francois de La Rochefoucauld GoodNature
“No man deserves to be praised for his goodness, who has it not in his power to be wicked. Goodness without that power is generally nothing more than sloth, or an impotence of will.” Francois de La Rochefoucauld GoodPower
“Everyone complains of his memory, and nobody complains of his judgment.” Francois de La Rochefoucauld
“Good advice is something a man gives when he is too old to set a bad example.” Francois de La Rochefoucauld BadGoodOld
“We get so much in the habit of wearing disguises before others that we finally appear disguised before ourselves.” Francois de La Rochefoucauld
“Never give anyone the advice to buy or sell shares, because the most benevolent price of advice can turn out badly.” Francois de La Rochefoucauld Bad
“There are various sorts of curiosity; one is from interest, which makes us desire to know that which may be useful to us; and the other, from pride which comes from the wish to know what others are ignorant of.” Francois de La Rochefoucauld Desire
“Weakness of character is the only defect which cannot be amended.” Francois de La Rochefoucauld Character
“It is not enough to have great qualities; We should also have the management of them.” Francois de La Rochefoucauld
“Flattery is a kind of bad money, to which our vanity gives us currency.” Francois de La Rochefoucauld BadMoney
“Repentance is not so much remorse for what we have done as the fear of the consequences.” Francois de La Rochefoucauld DoneFear
“How can we expect another to keep our secret if we have been unable to keep it ourselves?” Francois de La Rochefoucauld
