Top 500 François de La Rochefoucauld Quotes (2026 Update)
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451. “There is something to be said for jealousy, because it only designs the preservation of some good which we either have or think wehave a right to. But envy is a raging madness that cannot bear the wealth or fortune of others.”

— François de La Rochefoucauld

452. “Our aversion to lying is commonly a secret ambition to make what we say considerable, and have every word received with a religious respect.”

— François de La Rochefoucauld

453. “To establish yourself in the world a person must do all they can to appear already established.”

— François de La Rochefoucauld

454. “We acknowledge our faults in order to repair by our sincerity the damage they have done us in the eyes of others.”

— François de La Rochefoucauld

455. “A man of understanding finds less difficulty in submitting to a wrong-headed fellow, than in attempting to set him right.”

— François de La Rochefoucauld

456. “It is sometimes a point of as much cleverness to know to make good use of advice from others as to be able give good advice to oneself.”

— François de La Rochefoucauld

457. “Criticism sometimes is really praise, and praise sometimes slander.”

— François de La Rochefoucauld

458. “Nothing is rarer than true good nature; they who are reputed to have it are generally only pliant or weak.”

— François de La Rochefoucauld

459. “That good disposition which boasts of being most tender is often stifled by the least urging of self-interest.”

— François de La Rochefoucauld

460. “To praise princes for virtues they do not possess is to insult them without fear of consequences.”

— François de La Rochefoucauld

461. “It is worth nothing to be young without being beautiful, nor to be beautiful without being young.”

— François de La Rochefoucauld

462. “The intellect of the generality of women serves more to fortify their folly than their reason.”

— François de La Rochefoucauld

463. “We are always bored by the very people by whom it is vital not to be bored.”

— François de La Rochefoucauld

464. “The dullness of certain people is sometimes a sufficient security against the attack of an artful man.”

— François de La Rochefoucauld

465. “There is a sort of love whose very excessiveness prevents the lover’s being jealous.”

— François de La Rochefoucauld

466. “The breeding we give young people is ordinarily but an additional self-love, by which we make them have a better opinion of themselves.”

— François de La Rochefoucauld

467. “We are eager to believe that others are flawed because we are eager to believe in what we wish for.”

— François de La Rochefoucauld

468. “Those who most obstinately oppose the most widely-held opinions more often do so because of pride than lack of intelligence. They find the best places in the right set already taken, and they do not want back seats.”

— François de La Rochefoucauld

469. “Women in love sooner forgive great indiscretions than small infidelities.”

— François de La Rochefoucauld

470. “Few know how to be old.”

— François de La Rochefoucauld

471. “Madmen and fools see everything through the medium of humor.”

— François de La Rochefoucauld

472. “Consolation for unhappiness can often be found in a certain satisfaction we get from looking unhappy.”

— François de La Rochefoucauld

473. “The most violent passions sometimes leave us at rest, but vanity agitates us constantly.”

— François de La Rochefoucauld

474. “There are several remedies which will cure love, but there are no infallible ones.”

— François de La Rochefoucauld

475. “The appearances of goodness and merit often meet with a greater reward from the world than goodness and merit themselves.”

— François de La Rochefoucauld

476. “We judge so superficially of things, that common words and actions spoke and done in an agreeable manner, with some knowledge of what passes in the world, often succeed beyond the greatest ability.”

— François de La Rochefoucauld

477. “The generality of men have, like plants, latent properties, which chance brings to light.”

— François de La Rochefoucauld

478. “The name and pretense of virtue is as serviceable to self-interest as are real vices.”

— François de La Rochefoucauld

479. “In love, the quickest is always the best cure.”

— François de La Rochefoucauld

480. “What is perfectly true is perfectly witty.”

— François de La Rochefoucauld

481. “Our hopes, often though they deceive us, lead us pleasantly along the path of life.”

— François de La Rochefoucauld

482. “Moderation is the feebleness and sloth of the soul, whereas ambition is the warmth and activity of it.”

— François de La Rochefoucauld

483. “In misfortune we often mistake dejection for constancy; we bear it without daring to look on it; like cowards, who suffer themselves to be murdered without resistance.”

— François de La Rochefoucauld

484. “High fortune makes both our virtues and vices stand out as objects that are brought clearly to view by the light.”

— François de La Rochefoucauld

485. “A man cannot please long who has only one kind of wit.”

— François de La Rochefoucauld

486. “Fancy sets the value on the gifts of fortune.”

— François de La Rochefoucauld

487. “It is given to few persons to keep this secret well. Those who lay down rules too often break them, and the safest we are able to give is to listen much, to speak little, and to say nothing that that will ever give ground or regret.”

— François de La Rochefoucauld

488. “It is pointless for a woman to be young unless pretty, or to be pretty unless young.”

— François de La Rochefoucauld

489. “We may say of agreeableness, as distinct from beauty, that it consists in a symmetry of which we know not the rules, and a secret conformity of the features to each other, as also to the air and complexion of the person.”

— François de La Rochefoucauld

490. “Men never desire anything very eagerly which they desire only by the dictates of reason.”

— François de La Rochefoucauld

491. “It often happens that things come into the mind in a more finished form than could have been achieved after much study.”

— François de La Rochefoucauld

492. “The mark of extraordinary merit is to see those most envious of it constrained to praise.”

— François de La Rochefoucauld

493. “If we did not flatter ourselves, the flattery of others could never harm us.”

— François de La Rochefoucauld

494. “Sometimes, occasions occur in life which demand you to be a little foolish in order to skillfully extricate yourself.”

— François de La Rochefoucauld

495. “What is called generosity is usually only the vanity of giving; we enjoy the vanity more than the thing given.”

— François de La Rochefoucauld

496. “There are certain people fated to be fools; they not only commit follies by choice, but are even constrained to do so by fortune.”

— François de La Rochefoucauld

497. “Folly pursues us at all periods of our lives. If someone seems wise it is only because his follies are proportionate to his age and fortune.”

— François de La Rochefoucauld

498. “Female gossips are generally actuated by active ignorance.”

— François de La Rochefoucauld

499. “Many young persons believe themselves natural when they are only impolite and coarse.”

— François de La Rochefoucauld

500. “Men give away nothing so liberally as their advice.”

— François de La Rochefoucauld