Luc de Clapiers Quotes - Page 8

A man who love only himself and his pleasures is vain, presumptuous, and wicked even from principle.

If it is true that vice can never be done away with, the science of government consists of making it contribute to the public good.

The tempests of youth are mingled with days of brilliant sunshine.

Wit does not take the place of knowledge.

It is easy to criticize an author, but difficult to appreciate him.

With kings, nations, and private individuals, the strongest assume to themselves rights over the weakest, and the same rule is followed by animals, by matter, by the elements, so that everything is performed in the universe by violence. And that order which we blame with some appearance of justice is the most universal, most absolute, most unchangeable, and most ancient law of nature.

The falsest of all philosophies is that which, under the pretext of delivering men from the embarrassment of their passions, counsels idleness and the abandonment and neglect of themselves.

Great men in teaching weak men to reflect have set them on the road to error.

We are less hurt by the contempt of fools than by the lukewarm approval of men of intelligence.

He who seeks fame by the practice of virtue asks only for what he deserves.

Truth is not so threadbare as speech, because fewer people can make use of it.

The favorites of fortune or of fame topple from their pedestals before our eyes without diverting us from ambition.

Few maxims are true in every respect.

It is easier to say new things than to reconcile those which have already been said.

If virtue were its own reward, it would no longer be a human quality, but supernatural.

Prosperity makes some friends and many enemies.

When we are convinced of some great truths, and feel our convictions keenly, we must not fear to express it, although others have said it before us. Every thought is new when an author expresses it in a manner peculiar to himself.

It cannot be a vice in men to be sensible of their strength.

The counsels of the old, like the winter sun, shine, but give no heat.

The counsels of old age give light without heat, like the sun in winter.

Magnanimity will not consider the prudence of its motives.

We don't have enough time to premeditate our actions.

The light of the dawn is not so sweet as the first glimpses of fame.

It is no great advantage to possess a quick wit, if it is not correct; the perfection is not speed but uniformity.

It is sometimes easier to form a party than to attain by degrees the head of a party already formed.