French philosopher and moralist (1645-1696)
Among some people arrogance supplies the place of grandeur, inhumanity of decision, and roguery of intelligence.
JEAN DE LA BRUYÈRE
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"Of Mankind", Les Caractères
A man who knows how to make good bargains or finds his money increase in his coffers, thinks presently that he has a good deal of brains and is almost fit to be a statesman.
JEAN DE LA BRUYÈRE
"Of the Gifts of Fortune", Les Caractères
Time, which strengthens friendship, weakens love.
JEAN DE LA BRUYÈRE
"Of the Affections", Les Caractères
The sweetest music is the sound of the voice of the woman we love.
JEAN DE LA BRUYÈRE
"Of Women", Les Caractères
The most accomplished literary work would be reduced to nothing by carping criticism, if the author would listen to all critics and allow every one to erase the passage which pleases him the least.
JEAN DE LA BRUYÈRE
"Of Works of the Mind", Les Caractères
The lives of heroes have enriched history, and history has adorned the actions of heroes ; and thus I cannot say whether the historians are more indebted to those who provided them with such noble materials, or those great men to their historians.
JEAN DE LA BRUYÈRE
"Of Works of the Mind", Les Caractères
The favor of princes does not preclude the existence of merit, and yet does not prove that it exists.
JEAN DE LA BRUYÈRE
Les Caractères
Nothing makes us better understand what trifling things Providence thinks He bestows on men in granting them wealth, money, dignities, and other advantages, than the manner in which they are distributed and the kind of men who have the largest share.
JEAN DE LA BRUYÈRE
"Of the Gifts of Fortune", Les Caractères
No vice exists which does not pretend to be more or less like some virtue, and which does not take advantage of this assumed resemblance.
JEAN DE LA BRUYÈRE
"Of the Affections", Les Caractères
Making a book is a craft, like making a clock; it needs more than native wit to be an author.
JEAN DE LA BRUYÈRE
"Of Works of the Mind", Les Caractères
Love begins with love ; and the warmest friendship cannot change even to the coldest love.
JEAN DE LA BRUYÈRE
"Of the Affections", Les Caractères
It is the glory and the merit of some men to write well, and of others not to write at all.
JEAN DE LA BRUYÈRE
"Of Works of the Mind", Les Caractères
It is a sad thing when men have neither enough intelligence to speak well nor enough sense to hold their tongues.
JEAN DE LA BRUYÈRE
"Of Society and of Conversation", Les Caractères
He who will not listen to any advice, nor be corrected in his writings, is a rank pedant.
JEAN DE LA BRUYÈRE
"Of Works of the Mind", Les Caractères
Death happens but once, yet we feel it every moment of our lives; it is worse to dread it than to suffer it.
JEAN DE LA BRUYÈRE
"Of Mankind", Les Caractères
Criticism is often not a science; it is a craft, requiring more good health than wit, more hard work than talent, more habit than native genius. In the hands of a man who has read widely but lacks judgment, applied to certain subjects it can corrupt both its readers and the writer himself.
JEAN DE LA BRUYÈRE
"Of Works of the Mind", Les Caractères
Banter is often a proof of want of intelligence.
JEAN DE LA BRUYÈRE
"Of Society and of Conversation", Les Caractères
All the worth of some people lies in their name; upon a closer inspection it dwindles to nothing, but from a distance it deceives us.
JEAN DE LA BRUYÈRE
"Of Personal Merit", Les Caractères
A great mind is above insults, injustice, grief, and raillery, and would be invulnerable were it not open to compassion.
JEAN DE LA BRUYÈRE
"Of Mankind", Les Caractères
Women are at little trouble to express what they do not feel; but men are still at less to express what they do feel.
JEAN DE LA BRUYÈRE
"Of Women", Les Caractères