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

— François de La Rochefoucauld Reflections; or Sentences and Moral Maxims (1665)

Dans l'amitié comme dans l'amour on est souvent plus heureux par les choses qu'on ignore que par celles que l'on sait.

Original text (French)

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Variants

In friendship as in love, we are often happier due to the things we are unaware of than the things we know.

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More quotes by François de La Rochefoucauld

To succeed in the world we do everything we can to appear successful already.

Reflections; or Sentences and Moral Maxims (1665)

We hardly find any persons of good sense save those who agree with us.

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We all have strength enough to endure the misfortunes of others.

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One must listen if one wishes to be listened to.

Truth does not do so much good in the world, as the appearance of it does evil.

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Attribution

Quote text and notes from Wikiquote: François de La Rochefoucauld (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Source quality and labels are our own summary of what Wikiquote records.