Jean de La Bruy�re
France
16 Aug 1645 // 11 May 1696
Writer / Moralist
16 Aug 1645 // 11 May 1696
Writer / Moralist
Quotes
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In friendship we only see those faults which may be prejudicial to our friends. In love we see no faults but those by which we suffer ourselves
We must laugh before we are happy, for fear we die before we laugh at all
Time, which strengthens friendship, weakens love
Love begins with love
Modesty is to merit, what shade is to figures in a picture; it gives it strength and makes it stand out
A man of moderate understanding, thinks he writes divinely: A man of good understanding, thinks he writes reasonably
Eloquence may be found in conversations and in all kinds of writings; it is rarely found when looked for, and sometimes discovered where it is least expected
The very impossibility in which I find myself to prove that God is not, discloses to me His existence
The same principle leads us to neglect a man of merit that induces us to admire a fool
The favor of princes does not preclude the existence of merit, and yet does not prove that it exists
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On Anger: "For every minute you remain angry, you give up sixty seconds of peace of mind."
Essays
Essays
On Destiny: "Our destiny exercises its influence over us even when, as yet, we have not learned its nature: it is our future that lays down the law of our today."
Human, All Too Human
Human, All Too Human
On Friendship: "A crowd is not company; and faces are but a gallery of pictures; and talk but a tinkling cymbal, where there is no love."
Essays
Essays