Francois de La Rochefoucauld Doe Quotations

There is a kind of elevation which does not depend on fortune; it is a certain air which distinguishes us, and seems to destine us for great things; it is a price which we imperceptibly set upon ourselves.

Nothing is so contagious as example; and we never do any great good or evil which does not produce its like.

It is easier to appear worthy of a position one does not hold, than of the office which one fills.

Innocence does not find near so much protection as guilt.

We say little, when vanity does not make us speak.

Ridicule dishonors a man more than dishonor does.

Truth does not do as much good in the world as its imitations do harm.

Truth does less good in the world than its appearances do harm.

The tranquility or agitation of our temper does not depend so much on the big things which happen to us in life, as on the pleasant or unpleasant arrangements of the little things which happen daily.

Fortune never appears so blind as to those to whom she does no good.

One thing which makes us find so few people who appear reasonable and agreeable in conversation is, that there is scarcely any one who does not think more of what he is about to say than of answering precisely what is said to him.

If vanity does not entirely overthrow the virtues, at least it makes them all totter.

To establish oneself in the world, one does all one can to seem established there already.

Imagination does not enable us to invent as many different contradictions as there are by nature in every heart.

One should treat one's fate as one does one's health; enjoy it when it is good, be patient with it when it is poor, and never attempt any drastic cure save as an ultimate resort.

Jealousy is always born with love, but does not die with it. In jealousy there is more of self-love than of love to another.

He who refuses praise the first time that it is offered does so because he would hear it a second time.

Nothing is more contagious than example, and no man does any exceeding good or exceeding ill but it spawns new deeds of the same kind. The good we imitate through emulation, the ill through the malignity of our nature, which shame keeps locked up, but example sets free.

A man does not please long when he has only species of wit.

Nothing is so contagious as example; never was there any considerable good or ill done that does not produce its like. We imitate good actions through emulation, and had ones through a malignity in our nature, which shame conceals, and example sets at liberty.

Boredom ... causes us to neglect more duties than does interest.