Luc de Clapiers Giving Quotations

We are forced to respect the gifts of nature, which study and fortune cannot give.

You can purchase the mind of Pascal for a crown. Pleasures even cheaper are sold to those who give themselves up to them. It is only luxuries and objects of caprice that are rare and difficult to obtain; unfortunately they are the only things that touch the curiosity and taste of ordinary men.

The counsels of old age give light without heat, like the sun in winter.

One promises much, to avoid giving little.

Generosity gives assistance, rather than advice.

Give help rather than advice.

The counsels of the old, like the winter sun, shine, but give no heat.

If passion sometimes counsels greater boldness than does reflection, it gives more strength to execute it.