Quotes by La Rochefoucauld, Francois De

"Listening well and answering well is one of the greatest perfections that can be obtained in conversation."

La Rochefoucauld, Francois De on listening
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"What makes us so bitter against people who outwit us is that they think themselves cleverer than we are."

La Rochefoucauld, Francois De on losers and losing   

"We are nearer loving those who hate us than those who love us more than we wish."

La Rochefoucauld, Francois De on love
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"True love is like ghosts, which everybody talks about and few have seen."

La Rochefoucauld, Francois De on love
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"We love those who admire us, but not those whom we admire."

La Rochefoucauld, Francois De on love   

"What makes lovers never tire of one another is that they talk always about themselves."

La Rochefoucauld, Francois De on love   

"There is no disguise that can for long conceal love where it exists or simulate it where it does not."

La Rochefoucauld, Francois De on love
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"It is with true love as it is with ghosts; everyone talks about it, but few have seen it."

La Rochefoucauld, Francois De on love
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"If we are to judge of love by its consequences, it more nearly resembles hatred than friendship."

La Rochefoucauld, Francois De on love
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"There are few people who are not ashamed of their love affairs when the infatuation is over."

La Rochefoucauld, Francois De on love
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"The more one loves a mistress, the more one is ready to hate her."

La Rochefoucauld, Francois De on love   

"Although men flatter themselves with their great actions, they are not so often the result of a great design as of chance."

La Rochefoucauld, Francois De on luck   

This quotation can be viewed in the context of a book

"Chance corrects us of many faults that reason would not know how to correct."

La Rochefoucauld, Francois De on luck   

"Why is our memory good enough to recall to the last detail things that have happened to us, yet not good enough to recall how often we have told them to the same person."

La Rochefoucauld, Francois De on memory   

"It is easier to know men in general, than men in particular."

La Rochefoucauld, Francois De on men
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"Not all those who know their minds know their hearts as well."

La Rochefoucauld, Francois De on mind
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"The mind is always the patsy of the heart."

La Rochefoucauld, Francois De on mind   

"Before we set our hearts too much on anything, let us examine how happy are those who already possess it."

La Rochefoucauld, Francois De on models and modeling   

"Moderation in people who are contented comes from that calm that good fortune lends to their spirit."

La Rochefoucauld, Francois De on moderation   

"Moderation is an ostentatious proof of our strength of character."

La Rochefoucauld, Francois De on moderation   

"The height of cleverness is being able to conceal it."

La Rochefoucauld, Francois De on modesty
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"We promise according to our hopes and perform according to our fears."

La Rochefoucauld, Francois De on motivation   

This quotation can be viewed in the context of a book

"We would frequently be ashamed of our good deeds if people saw all of the motives that produced them."

La Rochefoucauld, Francois De on motivation
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"We should often be ashamed of our finest actions if the world understood all the motives behind them."

La Rochefoucauld, Francois De on motives   

"We think very few people sensible, except those who are of our opinion."

La Rochefoucauld, Francois De on opinions   

"We credit scarcely any persons with good sense except those who are of our opinion."

La Rochefoucauld, Francois De on opinions   

"In the human heart new passions are forever being born; the overthrow of one almost always means the rise of another."

La Rochefoucauld, Francois De on passion
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"Passion makes idiots of the cleverest men, and makes the biggest idiots clever."

La Rochefoucauld, Francois De on passion
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"If we resist our passions, it is more through their weakness than from our strength."

La Rochefoucauld, Francois De on passion
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"The passions are the only orators which always persuade."

La Rochefoucauld, Francois De on passion   

"When a man finds no peace within himself, it is useless to seek it elsewhere."

La Rochefoucauld, Francois De on peace
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"A person well satisfied with themselves is seldom satisfied with others, and others, rarely are with them."

La Rochefoucauld, Francois De on people   

"There are people who in spite of their merit disgust us, and others who please us in spite of their faults."

La Rochefoucauld, Francois De on people
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"Few things are impracticable in themselves; and it is for want of application, rather than of means, that men fail to succeed."

La Rochefoucauld, Francois De on perseverance   

"Those who occupy their minds with small matters, generally become incapable of greatness."

La Rochefoucauld, Francois De on pettiness   

"The accent of one's birthplace remains in the mind and in the heart as in one's speech."

La Rochefoucauld, Francois De on places   

"Nothing is impossible; there are ways that lead to everything, and if we had sufficient will we should always have sufficient means. It is often merely for an excuse that we say things are impossible."

La Rochefoucauld, Francois De on possibilities   

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

La Rochefoucauld, Francois De on praise   

"When we disclaim praise, it is only showing our desire to be praised a second time."

La Rochefoucauld, Francois De on praise   

"Pride does not wish to owe and vanity does not wish to pay."

La Rochefoucauld, Francois De on pride
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