1,221 Quotes by François de La Rochefoucauld

Our temper sets a price upon every gift that we receive from fortune.

We should only affect compassion, and carefully avoid having any.

A wise man thinks it more advantageous not to join the battle than to win.

Women find it far more difficult to overcome their inclination to coquetry than to overcome their love.

Some accidents there are in life that a little folly is necessary to help us out of.

It is a mistake to imagine, that the violent passions only, such as ambition and love, can triumph over the rest. Idleness, languid as it is, often masters them all; she influences all our designs and actions, and insensibly consumes and destroys both passions and virtues.

Treachery is more often the effect of weakness than of a formed design.

Eloquence: saying the proper thing and stopping.

If a man doesn't find ease in himself, 'tis in vain to seek it elsewhere.