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A good saying often runs the risk of being thrown away when quoted as the speaker's own.

— Jean de La Bruyère

C'est souvent hasarder un bon mot et vouloir le perdre quo de le donner pour sien.

Original text (French)

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More quotes by Jean de La Bruyère

Wise men sometimes avoid the world, that they may not be surfeited with it.

Les Caractères (1688)

A wise man is cured of ambition by ambition itself; his aim is so exalted that riches, office, fortune, and favor cannot satisfy him.

Les Caractères (1688)

An intelligent man neither allows himself to be controlled nor attempts to control others; he wishes reason alone to rule, and that always.

Les Caractères (1688)

Time, which strengthens friendship, weakens love.

Les Caractères (1688)

There is, however, nothing wanting to the idleness of a philosopher but a better name, and that meditation, conversation, and reading should be called “work.”

Les Caractères (1688)

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Attribution

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