As falling into an impropriety of speech is much more fatal to a young man than it is advantageous to utter a pretty word, posterity, probably less silly, will have no less idea of the insipidity of good company.

Comme tomber dans une inconvenance de parole est beaucoup plus funeste à un jeune homme qu'il ne lui est avantageux de dire un joli mot, la postérité, probablement moins niaise, ne se fera pas moins d'idée de l'insipidité de la bonne compagnie.

Original text (French)

Another quote →

Notes from Wikiquote

Ch. 8

More quotes by Stendhal

All Stendhal quotes →

Attribution

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