Instead of taking care to acquaint ourselves with others, we only think of making ourselves known to them. It would be better to listen to other people in order to become enlightened rather than to speak so as to shine in front of them. Madeleine de Souvre, marquise de Sable More Quotes by Madeleine de Souvre, marquise de Sable More Quotes From Madeleine de Souvre, marquise de Sable There is a certain imperiousness, in the manner of speaking and in actions, which makes itself felt everywhere, and soon wins attention and respect. This commanding quality is useful in all affairs, and even for obtaining what we ask for. Madeleine de Souvre, marquise de Sable respect quality winning One cannot always bestow all manner of things upon everybody. To refuse a request for just cause is as praiseworthy as to grant a request that is worthy. It is for this reason that the "no" of some people pleases more than the "yes" of others. A refusal accompanied by sweet words and a civil manner gives more satisfaction to a true heart than a favor given with bad grace. Madeleine de Souvre, marquise de Sable heart sweet people It is neither a great praise nor a great blame when people say a tendency is in or out of fashion. If a tendency is as it should be at one time, it is always as it should be. Madeleine de Souvre, marquise de Sable blame fashion people Good results are sometimes owing to a failure of judgment, because the faculty of judgment often hinders us from undertaking many things which would succeed if carried through without thinking. Madeleine de Souvre, marquise de Sable owing failure thinking Honest and sincere acts mislead the wicked and cause them to lose their path to their own goals, because mean-spirited people usually believe that people never act without deceit. Madeleine de Souvre, marquise de Sable honesty believe lying Love is always master everywhere. It shapes the soul, the heart, and the mind wherever it exists. What matters is not the amount of love, but simply its existence in the mind and heart where it resides. And it truly appears that love is to the soul of the lover as the soul itself is to the body which it animates. Madeleine de Souvre, marquise de Sable what-matters heart love-is We must accustom ourselves to the follies of others and not be astonished at the foolishness that takes place in our presence. Madeleine de Souvre, marquise de Sable foolishness folly We think highly of men when we do not know the extent of their capabilities, for we always suppose that more exists when we only see half. Madeleine de Souvre, marquise de Sable half men thinking In knowledge of human affairs, we should never allow our minds to be enslaved by others by subjecting ourselves to their whims. We must maintain freedom of thought, and never accept anything of purely human authority into our heads. When we are presented with a diversity of opinions, we must choose, if we can; if we cannot, we must remain in doubt. Madeleine de Souvre, marquise de Sable diversity doubt mind It is better that great peoples should seek out glory, or even vanity, in their deeds, than that they should remain indifferent . For even if they are not incited to act upon virtuous principles, at least there is the saving grace that they will do things they might not have done had not vanity prompted their actions. Madeleine de Souvre, marquise de Sable vanity principles grace The conversation of those who like to lord it over us is very disagreeable. But we should always be ready to graciously acknowledge the truth, no matter in what guise it comes to us. Madeleine de Souvre, marquise de Sable truth lord matter Study and research into truth often only serves to make us see by experience our natural ignorance. Madeleine de Souvre, marquise de Sable research ignorance truth He who uses trickery should at least make use of his judgment to learn that he can scarcely hide treacherous conduct for very long among clever men who are determined to find him out, although they may pretend to be deceived in order to disguise their knowledge of his deceitfulness. Madeleine de Souvre, marquise de Sable learning clever men Often the desire to appear competent impedes our ability to become competent, because we more anxious to display our knowledge than to learn what we do not know. Madeleine de Souvre, marquise de Sable anxious learning desire Mean-spirited mediocrities, especially those with a smattering of learning, are the most likely to be opinionated. Only strong minds know how to correct their opinions and abandon a bad position. Madeleine de Souvre, marquise de Sable learning strong mean It is a very common failing, never to be pleased with our fortune nor displeased with our character. Madeleine de Souvre, marquise de Sable failure common character The ties of virtue ought to be closer than the ties of blood, since the good man is closer to another good man by their similarity of morals than the son is to his father by their similarity of face. Madeleine de Souvre, marquise de Sable men father son The shame that comes to us as we see ourselves praised when we are unworthy of it often gives us the occasion to accomplish things that we might never have achieved without such undeserved praise. Madeleine de Souvre, marquise de Sable achievement might giving Sometimes we praise the way things used to be in order to blame the present, and we esteem what is no longer in order to scorn what is. Madeleine de Souvre, marquise de Sable blame order way Wealth does not teach us to transcend the desire for wealth. The possession of many goods does not bring the repose of not desiring them. Madeleine de Souvre, marquise de Sable wealth doe desire
