When we are dead we are praised by those who survive us, though we frequently have no other merit than that of being no longer alive. Jean de la Bruyere More Quotes by Jean de la Bruyere More Quotes From Jean de la Bruyere When we lavish our money we rob our heir; when we merely save it we rob ourselves. Jean de la Bruyere heirsmoney Children are overbearing, supercilious, passionate, envious, inquisitive, egotistical, idle, fickle, timid, intemperate, liars, and dissemblers; they laugh and weep easily, are excessive in their joys and sorrows, and that about the most trifling objects; they bear no pain, but like to inflict it on others; already they are men. Jean de la Bruyere painliarschildren As long as men are liable to die and are desirous to live, a physician will be made fun of, but he will be well paid. Jean de la Bruyere healthfunmen When we have run through all forms of government, without partiality to that we were born under, we are at a loss with which to side; they are all a compound of good and evil. It is therefore most reasonable and safe to value that of our own country above all others, and to submit to it. Jean de la Bruyere lossrunningcountry Tyranny has no need of arts or sciences, for its policy, which is very shallow and without any refinement, only consists in shedding blood. Jean de la Bruyere tyrantsbloodart Every man is valued in this world as he shows by his conduct that he wishes to be valued. Jean de la Bruyere wishappreciationmen In art them is a point of perfection, as of goodness or maturity in nature; he who is able to perceive it, and who loves it, has perfect taste; he who does not feel it, or loves on this side or that, has an imperfect taste. Jean de la Bruyere maturityperfectart There are some souls so base and filthy that they love gain and interest as noble souls love fame and virtue, knowing one pleasure only, that of making money or of not losing it; anxious and avid for their ten per cent; entirely preoccupied with what is owed them; forever concerned about the depreciation or discredit of money; buried, and as it were engulfed, amid contracts, title-deeds and parchments. Such people are neither parents, friends, citizens or Christians, nor, perhaps, even men; they merely have money. Jean de la Bruyere greedsoulmind A man is thirty years old before he has any settled thoughts of his fortune; it is not completed before fifty. He falls to building in his old age, and dies by the time his house is in a condition to be painted and glazed. Jean de la Bruyere menyearsfall False glory is the rock of vanity; it seduces men to affect esteem by things which they indeed possess, but which are frivolous, and which for a man to value himself on would be a scandalous error. Jean de la Bruyere vanityerrorsmen What greater weakness can there be than not to know what is the source of one's being, of one's life, of one's senses, of one's knowledge, and what is to be their end? What can be more deeply disheartening than to wonder whether one's soul is, perhaps, a material thing, like a stone or a reptile, corruptible like these base creatures? Is there not more strength and greatness of mind in admitting the idea of a being superior to all other beings, who has made them all and to whom all owe their existence; of a being supremely perfect, who is pure, who had no beginning and can have no ending, of whom our soul is the image and, so to speak, a portion, being a spiritual and immortal thing? Jean de la Bruyere spiritualmenideas A party spirit betrays the greatest men to act as meanly as the vulgar herd. Jean de la Bruyere partyspiritmen False modesty is the masterpiece of vanity: showing the vain man in such an illusory light that he appears in the reputation of the virtue quite opposite to the vice which constitutes his real character; it is a deceit. Jean de la Bruyere realcharactermen A tall, well-built man with a deep chest and broad shoulders can carry a heavy burden with ease and unconcern, and still keep one hand free; a dwarf would be crushed by half that weight. Thus lofty posts make great men greater still, and small men much smaller. Jean de la Bruyere small-manofficemen There is not in the world so toilsome a trade as the pursuit of fame; life concludes before you have so much as sketched your work. Jean de la Bruyere pursuitfameworld He who knows how to wait for what he desires does not feel very desperate if he fails in obtaining it; and he, on the contrary, who is very impatient in procuring a certain thing, takes so much pains about it, that, even when he is successful, he does not think himself sufficiently rewarded. Jean de la Bruyere painsuccessfulthinking Party loyalty lowers the greatest men to the petty level of the masses. Jean de la Bruyere partyloyaltymen Death happens but once, yet we feel it every moment of our lives; it is worse to dread it than to suffer it. Jean de la Bruyere momentssufferingdeath If a secret is revealed, the person who has confided it to another is to be blamed. Jean de la Bruyere personsifssecret Profound ignorance makes a man dogmatic. The man who knows nothing thinks he is teaching others what he has just learned himself; the man who knows a great deal can't imagine that what he is saying is not common knowledge, and speaks more indifferently. Jean de la Bruyere ignoranceteachingmen
