Jean de la Bruyère (French: [ʒɑ̃ də la bʁyjɛʁ]; 16 August 1645 – 11 May 1696) was a French philosopher and moralist, who was noted for his satire.
Misers are neither relations, nor friends, nor citizens, nor Christians, nor perhaps even human beings.
Life is a kind of sleep: old men sleep longest, nor begin to wake but when they are to die.
A man who has schemed for some time can no longer do without it; all other ways of living are to him dull and insipid.
It is virtue which should determine us in the choice of our friends, without inquiring into their good or evil fortune.
There exist some evils so terrible and some misfortunes so horrible that we dare not think of them, whilst their very aspect makes us shudder; but if they happen to fall on us, we find ourselves stronger than we imagined, we grapple with our ill luck, and behave better than we expected we should.
The most accomplished literary work would be reduced to nothing by carping criticism, if the author would listen to all critics and allow every one to erase the passage which pleases him the least.
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.
A man may have intelligence enough to excel in a particular thing and lecture on it, and yet not have sense enough to know he ought to be silent on some other subject of which he has but a slight knowledge; if such an illustrious man ventures beyond the bounds of his capacity, he loses his way and talks like a fool.
We never deceive for a good purpose: knavery adds malice to falsehood.
The nearer we approach great men, the clearer we see that they are men.
An inconstant woman is one who is no longer in love; a false woman is one who is already in love with another person; a fickle woman is she who neither knows whom she loves nor whether she loves or not; and the indifferent woman, one who does not love at all.
It is a proof of boorishness to confer a favor with a bad grace; it is the act of giving that is hard and painful. How little does a smile cost?
One seeks to make the loved one entirely happy, or, if that cannot be, entirely wretched.
Courtly manners are contagious; they are caught at Versailles.
A judge's duty is to grant justice, but his practice is to delay it: even those judges who know their duty adhere to the general practice.
A man has made great progress in cunning when he does not seem too clever to others.
There are some sordid minds, formed of slime and filth, to whom interest and gain are what glory and virtue are to superior souls; they feel no other pleasure but to acquire money.
The most amiable people are those who least wound the self-love of others.
I do not doubt but that genuine piety is the spring of peace of mind; it enables us to bear the sorrows of life, and lessens the pangs of death: the same cannot be said of hypocrisy.
Manners carry the world for the moment, character for all time.