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François de La Rochefoucauld on Christmas

1613–1680 France

← All quotes by François de La Rochefoucauld

24 quotes

The pleasure of love is in loving; we are happier in the passion we feel than in what we inspire.

Reflections; or Sentences and Moral Maxims (1665)

The reason why lovers and their mistresses never tire of being together is that they are always talking of themselves.

In their first passion, women love their lovers; in all the others, they love love.

Reflections; or Sentences and Moral Maxims (1665)

Self-love is the greatest of all flatterers.

Reflections; or Sentences and Moral Maxims (1665)

Neither love nor fire can subsist without perpetual motion; both cease to live so soon as they cease to hope, or to fear.

Reflections; or Sentences and Moral Maxims (1665)

The gratitude of most men is but a secret desire of receiving greater benefits.

The greatest miracle of love is the cure of coquetry.

True love is like the appearance of ghosts: everyone talks about it but few have seen it.

Reflections; or Sentences and Moral Maxims (1665)

Jealousy is always born with love but does not always die with it.

Reflections; or Sentences and Moral Maxims (1665)

We always love those who admire us, and we do not always love those whom we admire.

Maxim 305 (1665)

There is no disguise which can hide love for long where it exists, or simulate it where it does not.

Reflections; or Sentences and Moral Maxims (1665)

In friendship and in love, one is often happier because of what one does not know than what one knows.

Reflections; or Sentences and Moral Maxims (1665)

If we judge love by the majority of its results, it resembles hatred more than friendship.

Reflections; or Sentences and Moral Maxims (1665)

Sometimes it is pleasant for a husband to have a jealous wife: he always hears what he loves being talked about.

It is impossible to fall back in love with what one has stopped being in love with.

Reflections; or Sentences and Moral Maxims (1665)

There are very few people who are not ashamed to be loved when they no longer do.

Reflections; or Sentences and Moral Maxims (1665)

Of all violent passions, the least unbecoming to a woman is love.

Reflections; or Sentences and Moral Maxims (1665)

In jealousy there is more of self-love than love.

Reflections; or Sentences and Moral Maxims (1665)

In love, the first healed is the best healed.

Reflections; or Sentences and Moral Maxims (1665)

The head is always the dupe of the heart.

Attribution

Quotes and notes from Wikiquote: François de La Rochefoucauld (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0.