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

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

Il est du véritable amour comme de l'apparition des esprits: tout le monde en parle, mais peu de gens en ont vu.

Original text (French)

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Variants

With true love it's like with the appearance of ghosts: everyone talks about it but few have seen it.

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Love

More quotes by François de La Rochefoucauld

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

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

Reflections; or Sentences and Moral Maxims (1665)

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.