François de La Rochefoucauld

“When we are unable to find tranquility within ourselves, it is useless to seek it elsewhere.”

“Jealousy is born with love, but does not always die with it.”

“The glory of great men should always be measured by the means they have used to acquire it.”

“We all have strength enough to endure the misfortunes of others.”

“Our virtues are most frequently but vices disguised.”

“The desire to appear clever often prevents one from being so.”

“Self-love is the greatest of all flatterers.”

“The height of cleverness is to be able to conceal it.”

“One is never so happy or so unhappy as one imagines.”

“It is not enough to have great qualities; we must also have the management of them.”

“We often forgive those who bore us, but we cannot forgive those whom we bore.”

“A refusal of praise is a desire to be praised twice.”

“Hypocrisy is a tribute that vice pays to virtue.”

“We are so accustomed to disguise ourselves to others that in the end we become disguised to ourselves.”

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

“If we had no faults we should not take so much pleasure in noting those of others.”

“True love is like ghosts, which everyone talks about and few have seen.”

“We promise according to our hopes and perform according to our fears.”

“Absence diminishes mediocre passions and increases great ones, as the wind blows out candles and fans fires.”

“Interest speaks all sorts of tongues and plays all sorts of parts, even that of disinterestedness.”