Francois Duc de la Rochefoucauld

It is the prerogative of great men only to have great defects.
[Fr., Il n'appartient qu'aux grands hommes d'avoir read more

It is the prerogative of great men only to have great defects.
[Fr., Il n'appartient qu'aux grands hommes d'avoir de grands
defauts.]

Perfect valour consists in doing without witnesses that which we would be capable of doing before everyone.

Perfect valour consists in doing without witnesses that which we would be capable of doing before everyone.

The passions are the only orators that always persuade: they
are, as it were, a natural art, the rules read more

The passions are the only orators that always persuade: they
are, as it were, a natural art, the rules of which are
infallible; and the simplest man with passion is more persuasive
than the most eloquent without it.

That which makes the vanity of others unbearable to us is that
which wounds our own.
[Fr., Ce read more

That which makes the vanity of others unbearable to us is that
which wounds our own.
[Fr., Ce qui nous rend la vanite des autres insupportable, c'est
qu'elle blesse la notre.]

We are more interested in making others believe we are happy than in trying to be happy ourselves.

We are more interested in making others believe we are happy than in trying to be happy ourselves.