88 quotes
It is difficult to esteem a man as highly as he would wish.
The conscience of the dying belies their life.
Patience is the art of hoping.
Reflections and Maxims (1746)
Some authors regard morality in the same light as we regard modern architecture. Convenience is the first thing to be looked for.
Reflections and Maxims (1746)
The thought of death deceives us; for it causes us to neglect to live.
Reflections and Maxims (1746)
The fruit derived from labor is the sweetest of pleasures.
One can not be just if one is not humane.
Men are not to be judged by what they do not know, but by what they know, and by the manner in which they know it.
Reflections and Maxims (1746)
Those who fear men love the laws.
Reflections and Maxims (1746)
Persons of rank do not talk about such trifles as the common people do; but the common people do not busy themselves about such frivolous things as do persons of rank.
Reflections and Maxims (1746)
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.
Reflections and Maxims (1746)
Mercy is of greater value than justice.
Reflections and Maxims (1746)
It is of no use to possess a lively wit if it is not of the right proportion: the perfection of a clock is not to go fast, but to be accurate.
Reflections and Maxims (1746)
To execute great things, one should live as though one would never die.
Children are ... encouraged to be imitators, a course to which they are already too much inclined. No one thinks of making them original, courageous, independent.
Reflections and Maxims (1746)
Those who fear men like laws.
Reflections and Maxims (1746)
Reason and emotion counsel and supplement each other. Whoever heeds only the one, and puts aside the other, recklessly deprives himself of a portion of the aid granted us for the regulation of our conduct.
Reflections and Maxims (1746)
Obscurity is the realm of error.
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.
Reflections and Maxims (1746)
We can love with all our hearts those in whom we recognize great faults. It would be impertinent to believe that perfection alone has the right to please us; sometimes our weaknesses attach us to each other as much as our virtues.
Reflections and Maxims (1746)