1,221 Quotes by François de La Rochefoucauld

Perfect courage and utter cowardice are two extremes which rarely occur.

We often persuade ourselves to love people who are more powerful than we are, yet interest alone produces our friendship; we do not give our hearts away for the good we wish to do, but for that we expect to receive.

We should manage our fortune as we do our health - enjoy it when good, be patient when it is bad, and never apply violent remedies except in an extreme necessity

Self-love increases or diminishes for us the good qualities of our friends, in proportion to the satisfaction we feel with them; and we judge of their merit by the manner in which they act towards us.

People that are conceited of their own merit take pride in being unfortunate, that themselves and others may think them considerable enough to be the envy and the mark of fortune.

There are good marriages, but there are no delightful ones.

The truest mark of being born with great qualities is to be born without envy.

Sometimes we lose friends for whose loss our regret is greater than our grief, and others for whom our grief is greater than our regret.

How is it that we remember the least triviality that happens to us, and yet not remember how often we have recounted it to the same person?