François de La Rochefoucauld quotes

François de La Rochefoucauld was a French writer, aristocrat, and moralist, best known for his maxims and memoirs. His sharp and often cynical observations on human nature influenced French literature and philosophy. He remains a symbol of wit and insight into the complexities of the human character. Here are 464 of his quotes:

Hypocrisy is the homage which vice pays to virtue. (François de La Rochefoucauld)
We always like those who admire us; we do not always like those whom we admire. View quote
François de La Rochefoucauld
We promise in proportion to our hopes, and we deliver in proportion to our fears. View quote
François de La Rochefoucauld
True love is like ghosts, which everybody talks about and few have seen. View quote
François de La Rochefoucauld
Jealousy is always born with love but does not always die with it. View quote
François de La Rochefoucauld
Everyone complains of his lack of memory, but nobody of his want of judgment. View quote
François de La Rochefoucauld
The truest way to be deceived is to think oneself more knowing than others. View quote
François de La Rochefoucauld
Gracefulness is to the body what understanding is to the mind. View quote
François de La Rochefoucauld
We are never so happy, nor so unhappy, as we suppose ourselves to be. View quote
François de La Rochefoucauld
If one judges love by the majority of its effects, it is more like hatred than like friendship. View quote
François de La Rochefoucauld
True eloquence consists in saying all that should be said, and that only. (François de La Rochefoucauld)
Why can we remember the tiniest detail that has happened to us, and not remember how many times we have told it to the same person. View quote
François de La Rochefoucauld
The love of justice is simply in the majority of men the fear of suffering injustice. View quote
François de La Rochefoucauld
Neither the sun nor death can be looked at with a steady eye. View quote
François de La Rochefoucauld
It is easier to know man in general than to know one man. View quote
François de La Rochefoucauld
Old men are fond of giving good advice to console themselves for their inability to give bad examples. View quote
François de La Rochefoucauld
Everyone speaks well of his heart; no one dares speak well of his mind. View quote
François de La Rochefoucauld
Usually we only praise to be praised. View quote
François de La Rochefoucauld
How can we expect others to keep our secrets if we cannot keep them ourselves? View quote
François de La Rochefoucauld
We work so consistently to disguise ourselves to others that we end by being disguised to ourselves. View quote
François de La Rochefoucauld
The mind is always the patsy of the heart. (François de La Rochefoucauld)
Quarrels would not last long if the fault was only on one side. View quote
François de La Rochefoucauld
Absence extinguishes the minor passions and increases the great ones, as the wind blows out a candle and fans a fire. View quote
François de La Rochefoucauld
Envy is more irreconcilable than hatred. View quote
François de La Rochefoucauld
Women can more easily conquer their passion than their coquetterie. View quote
François de La Rochefoucauld

François de La Rochefoucauld

François de La Rochefoucauld - Image
Occupation: French Author
Born: September 15, 1613
Died: March 17, 1680
Quotes count: 464
Wikipedia: François de La Rochefoucauld

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