1,221 Quotes by François de La Rochefoucauld

Tricks and treachery are merely proofs of lack of skill.

The shame that arises from praise which we do not deserve often makes us do things we should otherwise never have attempted.

We should not be much concerned about faults we have the courage to own.

The cunningest dissimulation is when a man pretends to be caught in the traps others set for him; and a man is never so easily over-reached as when he is contriving to over-reach others.

Misers mistake gold for their good; whereas 'tis only a means of attaining it.

The vices enter into the composition of the virtues, as poisons into that of medicines. Prudence collects and arranges them, and uses them beneficially against the ills of life.

Men would not live in society long if they were not each others dupes.

The evil that we do does not attract to us so much persecution and hatred as our good qualities.

People's personalities, like buildings, have various facades, some pleasant to view, some not.