1,221 Quotes by François de La Rochefoucauld

Some good qualities are like the senses: Those who are entirely deprived of them can have no notion of them.

As one grows older, one becomes wiser and more foolish.

Luxury and excessive refinement are sure forerunners of the decadence of states, because when all individuals seek their own interests they neglect the public weal.

Idleness and fear keeps us in the path of duty, but our virtue often gets the praise.

Not to love is in love an infallible means of being loved.

Love of glory, fear of shame, greed for fortune, the desire to make life agreeable and comfortable, and the wish to depreciate others - all of these are often the causes of the bravery that is spoken so highly of by men.

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.

Conceit causes more conversation than wit.

No matter how much care we put into hiding our passions under the appearances of devotion and honor, they can always be seen to peer out through these covers.