The better part of one's life consists of his friendships. ABRAHAM LINCOLN, letter to Joseph Gillespie, July 13, 1849 Friendship is insipid to those who have experienced love. Francois de La Rochefoucauld More Quotes by Francois de La Rochefoucauld More Quotes From Francois de La Rochefoucauld There are some persons who only disgust with their abilities, there are persons who please even with their faults. Francois de La Rochefoucauld disgustingabilityfaults Great and glorious events which dazzle the beholder are represented by politicians as the outcome of grand designs whereas they are usually products of temperaments and passions. Francois de La Rochefoucauld designpassionevents None deserve praise for being good who have not the spirit to be bad: goodness, for the most part, is nothing but indolence or weakness of will. Francois de La Rochefoucauld atheismweaknessfear Death and the sun are not to be looked at steadily. Francois de La Rochefoucauld sundeath Absence diminishes mediocre passions and increases great ones, as the wind extinguishes candles and fans fires. Francois de La Rochefoucauld i-miss-youloveromantic There is only one kind of love, but there are a thousand imitations. Francois de La Rochefoucauld imitationkindlove Sometimes in life situations develop that only the half-crazy can get out of. Francois de La Rochefoucauld crazyhalfsometimes The defects and faults of the mind are like wounds in the body; after all imaginable care has been taken to heal them up, still there will be a scar left behind, and they are in continual danger of breaking the skin and bursting out again. Francois de La Rochefoucauld skinstakenmind Not all those who know their minds know their hearts as well. Francois de La Rochefoucauld mindheartinspirational Death, like the sun, cannot be looked at steadily. Francois de La Rochefoucauld sunsciencedeath Too great refinement is false delicacy, and true delicacy is solid refinement. Francois de La Rochefoucauld refinementcomparisondelicacy We seldom find people ungrateful so long as it is thought we can serve them. Francois de La Rochefoucauld ungrateful-peoplelongpeople Passion makes idiots of the cleverest men, and makes the biggest idiots clever. Francois de La Rochefoucauld passionclevermen Jealousy lives upon doubts. It becomes madness or ceases entirely as soon as we pass from doubt to certainty. Francois de La Rochefoucauld jealousymadnessdoubt A refusal of praise is a desire to be praised twice. Francois de La Rochefoucauld workoutpraisedesire If we are to judge of love by its consequences, it more nearly resembles hatred than friendship. Francois de La Rochefoucauld broken-heartlovefriendship The accent of one's birthplace remains in the mind and in the heart as in one's speech. Francois de La Rochefoucauld birth-placemindheart What we call generosity is for the most part only the vanity of giving; and we exercise it because we are more fond of that vanity than of the thing we give. Francois de La Rochefoucauld vanitygenerosityexercise As it is the characteristic of great wits to say much in few words, so small wits seem to have the gift of speaking much and saying nothing. Francois de La Rochefoucauld saying-nothingfew-wordswisdom There are heroes in evil as well as in good. Francois de La Rochefoucauld heroismheroevil
