481 Quotes by Jean De La Bruyere

The pleasure of criticizing takes away from us the pleasure of being moved by some very fine things.

[Il ne manque cependant à l'oisiveté du sage qu'un meilleur nom, et que méditer, parler, lire, et être tranquille s'appelât travailler.]There is, however, nothing wanting to the idleness of a philosopher but a better name, and that meditation, conversation, and reading should be called “work”.

Two persons cannot long be friends if they cannot forgive each other's little failings.

If some persons died and others did not die death would indeed be a terrible affliction.

The unnamed should not be mistaken for the nonexistent.

The very essence of politeness is to take care that by our words and actions we make other people pleased with us as well as with themselves.

All of our unhappiness comes from our inability to be alone.

Those who make the worst use of their time are the first to complain of its brevity.

The pleasure of criticism takes away from us the pleasure of being deeply moved by very fine things.