Luc de Clapiers Quotations

The things we know best are the things we haven't been taught.

The art of pleasing is the art of deception.

The most absurd and reckless aspirations have sometimes led to extraordinary success.

Lazy people are always anxious to be doing something.

The wicked are always surprised to find ability in the good.

The greatest achievement of the human spirit is to live up to one's opportunities and make the most of one's resources.

When a thought is too weak to be expressed simply, it should be rejected.

Our failings sometimes bind us to one another as closely as could virtue itself.

One can not be just if one is not humane.

If people did not compliment one another there would be little society.

The fruit derived from labor is the sweetest of pleasures.

Wicked people are always surprised to find ability in those that are good.

We should expect the best and the worst of mankind, as from the weather.

You must rouse into people's consciousness their own prudence and strength, if you want to raise their character.

The idle always have a mind to do something.

It is difficult to esteem a man as highly as he would wish.

You are not born for fame if you don't know the value of time.

The greatest evil which fortune can inflict on men is to endow them with small talents and great ambition.

Those who can bear all can dare all.

To achieve great things we must live as though we were never going to die.

To execute great things, one should live as though one would never die.

Men sometimes feel injured by praise because it assigns a limit to their merit; few people are modest enough not to take offense that one appreciates them.

There is nothing that fear and hope does not permit men to do.

The law cannot equalize mankind in spite of nature.

The fool is like those people who think themselves rich with little.

The conscience of the dying belies their life.

To possess taste, one must have some soul.

Despair puts the last touch not only to our misery but also to our weakness.

Conscience, the organ of feeling which dominates us and of the opinions which rule us, is presumptuous in the strong, timid in the weak and unfortunate, uneasy in the undecided.

Action makes more fortune than caution.

All grand thoughts come from the heart.

Commerce is the school of cheating.

Emotions have taught mankind to reason.

It is not in everyone's power to secure wealth, office, or honors; but everyone may be good, generous, and wise.

We are so presumptuous that we think we can separate our personal interest from that of humanity, and slander mankind without compromising ourselves.

Constancy is the chimera of love.

We often quarrel with the unfortunate to get rid of pitying them.

The usual pretext of those who make others unhappy is that they do it for their own good.

Patience is the art of hoping.

The maxims of men reveal their characters.

Clarity is the counterbalance of profound thoughts.

You must maintain strength of body in order to preserve strength of mind.

Servitude debases men to the point where they end up liking it.

No one likes to be pitied for his faults.

The best things are the most common.

Faith is the consolation of the wretched and the terror of the happy.

We must not be timid from a fear of committing faults: the greatest fault of all is to deprive oneself of experience.

Fools do not understand men of intelligence.

A liar is a man who does now know how to deceive, a flatterer one who only deceives fools: he who knows how to make skilful use of the truth, and understands its eloquence, can alone pride himself in cleverness.

It is sometimes easier to form a party than to attain by degrees the head of a party already formed.

Obscurity is the kingdom of error.

Clearness is the ornament of deep thought.

Nothing endures except truth.

It is easier to say new things than to reconcile those which have already been said.

Some are born to invent, others to embellish; but the gilder attracts more attention than the architect.

Few men have depth enough to hear or tell the truth.

And where, on earth, dwell hope and truth? In childhood's uncorrupted heart; Alas! too soon to guileless youth The world doth its dark code impart!

We should expect the best and the worst from mankind as from the weather.

All that is unfair, offends us if it's not beneficial for us

Obscurity is the realm of error.

Whoever has seen the masked at a ball dance amicably together, and take hold of hands without knowing each other, leaving the next moment to meet no more, can form an idea of the world.

He who seeks fame by the practice of virtue asks only for what he deserves.

The mind of man is more intuitive than logical, and comprehends more than it can coordinate.

Hope is the only good thing that disillusion respects.

If anyone accuses me of contradicting myself, I shall reply; I have been wrong once or more often, however I do not aspire to be always wrong.

Truth is not so threadbare as speech, because fewer people can make use of it.

Consciousness of our powers augments them.

Hatred and dishonesty generally arises from fear of being deceived.

The lazy are always wanting to do something.

Necessity relieves us from the embarrassment of choice.

We don't have enough time to premeditate our actions.

Simple truths are a relief from grand speculations.

There are those who are so scrupulously afraid of doing wrong that they seldom venture to do anything.

Learn to overrule minor interest in favor of great ones, and generously to do all the good the heart prompts; a man is never injured by acting virtuously.

We discover in ourselves what others hide from us and we recognize in others what we hide from ourselves...

The maxim that men are not to be praised before their death was invented by envy and too lightly adopted by philosophers. I, on the contrary, maintain that they ought to be praised in their lifetime if they merit it; but jealousy and calumny, roused against their virtue or their talent, labour to degrade them if any one ventures to bear testimony to them. It is unjust criticism that they should fear to hazard, not sincere praise.

A man who love only himself and his pleasures is vain, presumptuous, and wicked even from principle.

Our virtues are dearer to us the more we have had to suffer for them. It is the same with our children. All profound affection admits a sacrifice.

In order to do great things, it is necessary to live as if one was never to die.

If it is true that vice can never be done away with, the science of government consists of making it contribute to the public good.

Courage is adversity's lamp.

We can console ourselves for not having great talents as we console ourselves for not having great places. We can be above both in our hearts.

Hope animates the wise, and lures the presumptuous and indolent who repose inconsiderately on her promises.

Hatred is keener than friendship, less keen than love.

The character of false wit is that of appearing to depend only upon reason.

Wit does not take the place of knowledge.

Some of us would be greatly astonished to learn the reasons why others respect us.

As a house implies a builder, and a garment a weaver, and a door a carpenter, so does the existence of the Universe imply a Creator.

When an idea is not robust enough to stand expression in simple terms, it is a sign that it should be rejected.

When we feel that we lack whatever is needed to secure someone else's esteem, we are very close to hating him

None are more liable to mistakes than those who act only on second thoughts.

To withdraw ourselves from the law of the strong, we have found ourselves obliged to submit to justice. Justice or might, we must choose between these two masters.

Activity makes more men's fortunes than cautiousness.

Every thought is new when an author expresses it in a manner peculiar to himself.

Glory fills the world with virtue, and, like a beneficent sun, covers the whole earth with flowers and with fruits.

All that causes one man to differ from another is a very slight thing. What is it that is the origin of beauty or ugliness, health or weakness, ability or stupidity? A slight difference in the organs, a little more or a little less bile. Yet this more or less is of infinite importance to men; and when they think otherwise they are mistaken.

As soon as an opinion becomes common it is sufficient reason for men to abandon it and to uphold the opposite opinion until that in its turn grows old, and they require to distinguish themselves by other things. Thus if they attain their goal in some art or science, we must expect them soon to cast it aside to acquire some fresh fame, and this is partly the reason why the most splendid ages degenerate so quickly, and, scarcely emerged from barbarism, plunge into it again.

It is proof of a narrow mind when things worthy of esteem are distinguished from things worthy of love. Great minds naturally love whatever is worthy of their esteem.

Servitude degrades people to such a point that they come to like it.

If our friends do us a service, we think they owe it to us by their title of friend. We never think that they do not owe us their friendship.