A lofty birth or a large fortune portend merit, and cause it to be the sooner noticed. Jean de la Bruyere More Quotes by Jean de la Bruyere More Quotes From Jean de la Bruyere We should keep silent about those in power; to speak well of them almost implies flattery; to speak ill of them while they are alive is dangerous, and when they are dead is cowardly. Jean de la Bruyere flatteryalivepower When we are young we lay up for old age; when we are old we save for death. Jean de la Bruyere prudenceageyoung Avoid lawsuits beyond all things; they pervert your conscience, impair your health, and dissipate your property. Jean de la Bruyere propertylawsuitall-things Some men promise to keep your secret and yet reveal it without knowing they are doing so; they do not wag their lips, and yet they are understood; it is read on their brow and in their eyes; it is seen through their breast; they are transparent. Jean de la Bruyere eyeknowingmen From time to time there appear on the face of the earth men of rare and consummate excellence, who dazzle us by their virtue, and whose outstanding qualities shed a stupendous light. Like those extraordinary stars of whose origins we are ignorant, and of whose fate, once they have vanished, we know even less, such men have neither forebears nor descendants: they are the whole of their race. Jean de la Bruyere fatestarsmen A man's worth is estimated in this world according to his conduct. Jean de la Bruyere mannersmenworld No man is so perfect, so necessary to his friends as to give them no cause to miss him less. Jean de la Bruyere friendshipgivingmen 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. Jean de la Bruyere tonguespeakmen Life at court does not satisfy a man, but it keeps him from being satisfied with anything else. Jean de la Bruyere earsdoemen It is too much for a husband to have a wife who is a coquette and sanctimonious as well; she should select only one of those qualities. Jean de la Bruyere qualitywifehusband Most men spend the best part of their lives making the remaining part wretched. Jean de la Bruyere usemenlife The majority of women have no principles of their own; they are guided by the heart, and depend for their own conduct, upon that of the men they love. Jean de la Bruyere womenmajorityheart A mediocre mind thinks it writes divinely; a good mind thinks it writes reasonably. Jean de la Bruyere mindwritingthinking We perceive when love begins and when it declines by our embarrassment when alone together. Jean de la Bruyere sad-valentines-daytogetherlove The spendthrift robs his heirs the miser robs himself. Jean de la Bruyere spendthriftheirsmisery When what you read elevates your mind and fills you with noble aspirations, look for no other rule by which to judge a book; it is good, and is the work of a master-hand. Jean de la Bruyere judgingbookhands One mark of a second-rate mind is to be always telling stories. Jean de la Bruyere second-chancestoriesmind 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. Jean de la Bruyere hard-workmenhands A coxcomb is one whom simpletons believe to be a man of merit. Jean de la Bruyere ignorancemenbelieve The noblest deeds are well enough set forth in simple language; emphasis spoils them. Jean de la Bruyere deedssimpleaction
