We should keep silent about those in power; to speak well of them almost implies flattery; to speak ill of them while they are alive is dangerous, and when they are dead is cowardly.
About Jean de la Bruyere
Jean de La Bruyerela bRYijeR]; 16 August 1645 – 11 May 1696) was a French philosopher and moralist, who was noted for his satire.
More quotes from Jean de la Bruyere
The pleasure we feel in criticizing robs us from being moved by very beautiful things.
17th-century French writer and philosopher (1645-1696)
Between good sense and good taste there lies the difference between a cause and its effect.
17th-century French writer and philosopher (1645-1696)
The exact contrary of what is generally believed is often the truth.
17th-century French writer and philosopher (1645-1696)
The court is like a palace of marble; it’s composed of people very hard and very polished.
17th-century French writer and philosopher (1645-1696)
If our life is unhappy it is painful to bear; if it is happy it is horrible to lose, So the one is pretty equal to the other.
17th-century French writer and philosopher (1645-1696)
A slave has but one master; an ambitious man has as many masters as there are people who may be useful in bettering his position.
17th-century French writer and philosopher (1645-1696)
Children have neither a past nor a future. Thus they enjoy the present, which seldom happens to us.
17th-century French writer and philosopher (1645-1696)
There are only three events in a man’s life; birth, life, and death; he is not conscious of being born, he dies in pain, and he forgets to live.
17th-century French writer and philosopher (1645-1696)
Two persons cannot long be friends if they cannot forgive each other’s little failings.
17th-century French writer and philosopher (1645-1696)
One must laugh before one is happy, or one may die without ever laughing at all.
17th-century French writer and philosopher (1645-1696)
It’s motive alone which gives character to the actions of men.
17th-century French writer and philosopher (1645-1696)
A man can keep another’s secret better than his own. A woman her own better than others.
17th-century French writer and philosopher (1645-1696)
The Opera is obviously the first draft of a fine spectacle; it suggests the idea of one.
17th-century French writer and philosopher (1645-1696)
Liberality consists less in giving a great deal than in gifts well-timed.
17th-century French writer and philosopher (1645-1696)
There is no road too long to the man who advances deliberately and without undue haste; there are no honors too distant to the man who prepares himself for them with patience.
17th-century French writer and philosopher (1645-1696)
To be among people one loves, that’s sufficient; to dream, to speak to them, to be silent among them, to think of indifferent things; but among them, everything is equal.
17th-century French writer and philosopher (1645-1696)
No man is so perfect, so necessary to his friends, as to give them no cause to miss him less.
17th-century French writer and philosopher (1645-1696)
The first day one is a guest, the second a burden, and the third a pest.
17th-century French writer and philosopher (1645-1696)
Men blush less for their crimes than for their weaknesses and vanity.
17th-century French writer and philosopher (1645-1696)
Next to sound judgment, diamonds and pearls are the rarest things in the world.
17th-century French writer and philosopher (1645-1696)
As favor and riches forsake a man, we discover in him the foolishness they concealed, and which no one perceived before.
17th-century French writer and philosopher (1645-1696)
Making a book is a craft, like making a clock; it needs more than native wit to be an author.
17th-century French writer and philosopher (1645-1696)
One mark of a second-rate mind is to be always telling stories.
17th-century French writer and philosopher (1645-1696)
Logic is the technique by which we add conviction to truth.
17th-century French writer and philosopher (1645-1696)
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.
17th-century French writer and philosopher (1645-1696)
Grief at the absence of a loved one is happiness compared to life with a person one hates.
17th-century French writer and philosopher (1645-1696)
A vain man finds it wise to speak good or ill of himself; a modest man does not talk of himself.
17th-century French writer and philosopher (1645-1696)
We must laugh before we are happy, for fear of dying without having laughed at all.
17th-century French writer and philosopher (1645-1696)
If some persons died, and others did not die, death would be a terrible affliction.
17th-century French writer and philosopher (1645-1696)
Those who make the worst use of their time are the first to complain of its shortness.
17th-century French writer and philosopher (1645-1696)
When a book raises your spirit, and inspires you with noble and manly thoughts, seek for no other test of its excellence. It is good, and made by a good workman.
17th-century French writer and philosopher (1645-1696)
Even the best intentioned of great men need a few scoundrels around them; there are some things you cannot ask an honest ma to do.
17th-century French writer and philosopher (1645-1696)
The giving is the hardest part; what does it cost to add a smile?
17th-century French writer and philosopher (1645-1696)
Man has but three events in his life: to be born, to live, and to die. He is not conscious of his birth, he suffers at his death and he forgets to live.
17th-century French writer and philosopher (1645-1696)
We perceive when love begins and when it declines by our embarrassment when alone together.
17th-century French writer and philosopher (1645-1696)
Marriage, it seems, confines every man to his proper rank.
17th-century French writer and philosopher (1645-1696)
A mediocre mind thinks it writes divinely; a good mind thinks it writes reasonably.
17th-century French writer and philosopher (1645-1696)
He who tip-toes cannot stand; he who strides cannot walk.
17th-century French writer and philosopher (1645-1696)
Poverty may be the mother of crime, but lack of good sense is the father.
17th-century French writer and philosopher (1645-1696)
A pious man is one who would be an atheist if the king were.
17th-century French writer and philosopher (1645-1696)
It is a sad thing when men have neither the wit to speak well nor the judgment to hold their tongues.
17th-century French writer and philosopher (1645-1696)
Everything has been said, and we are more than seven thousand years of human thought too late.
17th-century French writer and philosopher (1645-1696)
I would not like to see a person who is sober, moderate, chaste and just say that there is no God. They would speak disinterestedly at least, but such a person is not to be found.
17th-century French writer and philosopher (1645-1696)
The great gift of conversation lies less in displaying it ourselves than in drawing it out of others. He who leaves your company pleased with himself and his own cleverness is perfectly well pleased with you.
17th-century French writer and philosopher (1645-1696)
We should keep silent about those in power; to speak well of them almost implies flattery; to speak ill of them while they are alive is dangerous, and when they are dead is cowardly.
17th-century French writer and philosopher (1645-1696)
Children enjoy the present because they have neither a past nor a future.
17th-century French writer and philosopher (1645-1696)
At the beginning and at the end of love, the two lovers are embarrassed to find themselves alone.
17th-century French writer and philosopher (1645-1696)
They that have lived a single day have lived an age.
17th-century French writer and philosopher (1645-1696)
Love and friendship exclude each other.
17th-century French writer and philosopher (1645-1696)
The slave has but one master, the ambitious man has as many as there are persons whose aid may contribute to the advancement of his fortunes.
17th-century French writer and philosopher (1645-1696)
The sweetest of all sounds is that of the voice of the woman we love.
17th-century French writer and philosopher (1645-1696)
Two quite opposite qualities equally bias our minds – habits and novelty.
17th-century French writer and philosopher (1645-1696)
There are certain things in which mediocrity is not to be endured, such as poetry, music, painting, public speaking.
17th-century French writer and philosopher (1645-1696)
When a work lifts your spirits and inspires bold and noble thoughts in you, do not look for any other standard to judge by: the work is good, the product of a master craftsman.
17th-century French writer and philosopher (1645-1696)
All men’s misfortunes spring from their hatred of being alone.
17th-century French writer and philosopher (1645-1696)
We should laugh before being happy, for fear of dying without having laughed.
17th-century French writer and philosopher (1645-1696)
The regeneration of society is the regeneration of society by individual education.
17th-century French writer and philosopher (1645-1696)
Avoid lawsuits beyond all things; they pervert your conscience, impair your health, and dissipate your property.
17th-century French writer and philosopher (1645-1696)
The passion of hatred is so long lived and so obstinate a malady that the surest sign of death in a sick person is their desire for reconciliation.
17th-century French writer and philosopher (1645-1696)
Out of difficulties grow miracles.
17th-century French writer and philosopher (1645-1696)
A man of the world must seem to be what he wishes to be thought.
17th-century French writer and philosopher (1645-1696)
We can recognize the dawn and the decline of love by the uneasiness we feel when alone together.
17th-century French writer and philosopher (1645-1696)
A position of eminence makes a great person greater and a small person less.
17th-century French writer and philosopher (1645-1696)
All of our unhappiness comes from our inability to be alone.
17th-century French writer and philosopher (1645-1696)
Politeness makes one appear outwardly as they should be within.
17th-century French writer and philosopher (1645-1696)
One seeks to make the loved one entirely happy, or, if that cannot be, entirely wretched.
17th-century French writer and philosopher (1645-1696)
This great misfortune – to be incapable of solitude.
17th-century French writer and philosopher (1645-1696)
It is fortunate to be of high birth, but it is no less so to be of such character that people do not care to know whether you are or are not.
17th-century French writer and philosopher (1645-1696)
The wise person often shuns society for fear of being bored.
17th-century French writer and philosopher (1645-1696)
Time makes friendship stronger, but love weaker.
17th-century French writer and philosopher (1645-1696)