Vauvenargues quotes
Vauvenargues (1715–1747): French moralist and essayist (Luc de Clapiers, marquis de Vauvenargues). The library holds 45 quotes by Vauvenargues, drawn from Maxim. The 45 below are the most quoted; search the library in the maker for the rest.
Often about: life, nature, hope, knowledge, death, art
The best-known Vauvenargues quotes
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It is easy to criticise an author, but it is difficult to appreciate him.
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Prosperity makes some friends and many enemies.
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Great thoughts come from the heart.
Maxim cxxvii -
One of the noblest qualities in our nature is that we are able so easily to dispense with greater perfection.
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There is nothing that fear and hope does not persuade men to do.
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You must rouse in men a consciousness of their own prudence and strength, if you would raise their character.
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If people did not flatter one another, there would be little society.
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Persevere in the fight, struggle on, do not let go, think magnanimously of man and life, for man is good and life is affluent and fruitful.
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Whoever has seen the masked at a ball dance amicably together, and take hold of hands without knowing each other, leaving the next moment to meet no more, can form an idea of the world.
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There is, perhaps, no truth that is not to some false minds matter of error.
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Excessive distrust is not less hurtful than its opposite. Most men become useless to him who is unwilling to risk being deceived.
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It is good to be firm by temperament and pliable by reflexion.
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The first days of spring have less grace than the growing virtue of a young man.
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When a thought is too weak to be simply expressed, it is a clear proof that it should be rejected.
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In order to do great things, it is necessary to live as if one were never to die.
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Nature knows no equality; her sovereign law is subordination and dependence.
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Our virtues are dearer to us the more we have had to suffer for them. It is the same with our children. All profound affection admits a sacrifice.
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Great men essay enterprises because they think them great, and fools because they think them easy.
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Despair gives the finishing blow not only to misery, but to weakness.
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When a thought is too weak to bear a simple expression, it is a sign that it deserves rejection.
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We often quarrel with the unfortunate to get rid of pitying them.
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The fruit derived from labor is the sweetest of all pleasures.
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Glory fills the world with virtue, and, like a beneficent sun, covers the whole earth with flowers and fruits.
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Wicked men are always surprised to discover ability in good men.
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To achieve great things a man must so live as if he had never to die.
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A new principle is an inexhaustible source of new views.
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We are able easily to dispense with greater perfection.
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We may lord it by force, but never by adroitness alone.
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Of all pleasures, the fruit of labour is the sweetest.
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Magnanimity owes to prudence no account of its motives.
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Hatred is keener than friendship, less keen than love.
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The law cannot equalise men in spite of nature.
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Perspicuity is the offset of profound thoughts.
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A man of large intelligence knows a great deal.
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The art of pleasing is the art of deceiving.
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The idle always have a mind to do something.
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Wit does not take the place of knowledge.
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The moderation of the weak is mediocrity.
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All men are born sincere and die deceivers.
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Men show what they are by their maxims.
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We cannot be just if we are not humane.
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To have taste, one must have some soul.
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Indolence is the sleep of the mind.
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Patience is the art of hoping.
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Constancy is the chimera of love.