Jean de La Bruyère quotes - page 2

There are only two ways by which to rise in this world, either by one's own industry or by the stupidity of others. (Jean de La Bruyère)
Liberality consists less in giving a great deal than in gifts well-timed. View quote
Jean de La Bruyère
It is a sad thing when men have neither enough intelligence to speak well nor enough sense to hold their tongues; this is the root of all impertinence. View quote
Jean de La Bruyère
You may drive a dog off the King's armchair, and it will climb into the preacher's pulpit; he views the world unmoved, unembarrassed, unabashed. View quote
Jean de La Bruyère
Out of difficulties grow miracles. View quote
Jean de La Bruyère
The sweetest of all sounds is that of the voice of the woman we love. View quote
Jean de La Bruyère
There is no road too long to the man who advances deliberately and without undue haste; there are no honors too distant to the man who prepares himself for them with patience. View quote
Jean de La Bruyère
If our life is unhappy it is painful to bear; if it is happy it is horrible to lose, So the one is pretty equal to the other. View quote
Jean de La Bruyère
A fool is always troublesome, a man of sense perceives when he pleases or is tiresome; he goes away the very minute before it might have been thought he stayed too long. View quote
Jean de La Bruyère
Most men make use of the first part of their life to render the last part miserable. View quote
Jean de La Bruyère
Men blush less for their crimes than for their weaknesses and vanity. (Jean de La Bruyère)
The exact contrary of what is generally believed is often the truth. View quote
Jean de La Bruyère
A heap of epithets is poor praise: the praise lies in the facts, and in the way of telling them. View quote
Jean de La Bruyère
Criticism is often not a science; it is a craft, requiring more good health than wit, more hard work than talent, more habit than native genius. In the hands of a man who has read widely but lacks judgment, applied to certain subjects it can corrupt both its readers and the writer himself. View quote
Jean de La Bruyère
To laugh at men of sense is the privilege of fools. View quote
Jean de La Bruyère
Nothing more clearly shows how little God esteems his gift to men of wealth, money, position and other worldly goods, than the way he distributes these, and the sort of men who are most amply provided with them. View quote
Jean de La Bruyère
Most men spend the first half of their lives making the second half miserable. View quote
Jean de La Bruyère
The nearer we come to great men the more clearly we see that they are only men. They rarely seem great to their valets. View quote
Jean de La Bruyère
Children have neither a past nor a future. Thus they enjoy the present, which seldom happens to us. View quote
Jean de La Bruyère
Mischievous wags are a kind of insects which are in everybody's way and plentiful in all countries. Real wit is rarely to be met with, and even if it be innate in a man, it must be very difficult to maintain reputation for it during any length of time; for, commonly, he that makes us laugh does not stand high in our estimation. View quote
Jean de La Bruyère
A preacher must have some intelligence to charm the people by his florid style, by his exhilarating system of morality, by the repetition of his figures of speech, his brilliant remarks and vivid descriptions ; but, after all, he has not too much of it, for if he possessed some of the right quality he would neglect these extraneous ornaments, unworthy of the Gospel, and preach naturally, forcibly, and like a Christian. (Jean de La Bruyère)
Time makes friendship stronger, but love weaker. View quote
Jean de La Bruyère
All of our unhappiness comes from our inability to be alone. View quote
Jean de La Bruyère
A Man must be very inert to have no character at all. View quote
Jean de La Bruyère
Sudden love takes the longest time to be cured. View quote
Jean de La Bruyère