Greatness Quotes by Francois de La Rochefoucauld

Men more easily renounce their interests than their tastes.

— Francois de La Rochefoucauld

Great men should not have great faults.

— Francois de La Rochefoucauld

Most people judge men by their success or their good fortune.

— Francois de La Rochefoucauld

It is the prerogative of great men only to have great defects.

— Francois de La Rochefoucauld

A man may be sharper than another, but not than all others.

— Francois de La Rochefoucauld

No men are oftener wrong than those that can least bear to be so.

— Francois de La Rochefoucauld

Only great men have great faults.

— Francois de La Rochefoucauld

To achieve greatness one should live as if they will never die.

— Francois de La Rochefoucauld

There are a great many men valued in society who have nothing to recommend them but serviceable vices.

— Francois de La Rochefoucauld

Those who give too much attention to trifling things become generally incapable of great ones.

— Francois de La Rochefoucauld

Few things are impracticable in themselves; and it is for want of application, rather than of means, that men fail to succeed.

— Francois de La Rochefoucauld

There is no better proof of a man's being truly good than his desiring to be constantly under the observation of good…

— Francois de La Rochefoucauld

He is a truly virtuous man who wishes always to be open to the observation of honest men.

— Francois de La Rochefoucauld

Those who occupy their minds with small matters, generally become incapable of greatness.

— Francois de La Rochefoucauld

The measure of great men should always be measured by the means they have used to acquire it.

— Francois de La Rochefoucauld

Men frequently do good only to give themselves opportunity of doing ill with impunity.

— Francois de La Rochefoucauld

It is easier for a man to be thought fit for an employment that he has not, than for one he stands…

— Francois de La Rochefoucauld

A man often thinks he rules himself, when all the while he is ruled and managed; and while his understanding directs one…

— Francois de La Rochefoucauld

There are no events so disastrous that adroit men do not draw some advantage from them, nor any so fortunate that the…

— Francois de La Rochefoucauld

Though men are apt to flatter and exalt themselves with their great achievements, yet these are, in truth, very often owing not…

— Francois de La Rochefoucauld

Moderation is a fear of falling into that envy and contempt which those who grow giddy with their good fortune quite justly…

— Francois de La Rochefoucauld

A man often believes himself leader when he is led; as his mind endeavors to reach one goal, his heart insensibly drags…

— Francois de La Rochefoucauld

A man convinced of his own merit will accept misfortune as an honor, for thus can he persuade others, as well as…

— Francois de La Rochefoucauld

One of the greatest and also the commonest of faults is for men to believe that, because they never hear their shortcomings…

— Francois de La Rochefoucauld

None but great men are capable of having great flaws.

— Francois de La Rochefoucauld

For the credit of virtue we must admit that the greatest misfortunes of men are those into which they fall through their…

— Francois de La Rochefoucauld

To be a great man it is necessary to know how to profit by the whole of our good fortune.

— Francois de La Rochefoucauld

Some men are like ballads, that are in everyone's mouth a little while.

— Francois de La Rochefoucauld

A man seldom finds people unthankful, as long as he remains in a condition of benefiting them further.

— Francois de La Rochefoucauld

Men may boast of their great actions; but they are more often the effects of chance than of design.

— Francois de La Rochefoucauld

The greater part of mankind judge of men only by their fashionableness or their fortune.

— Francois de La Rochefoucauld

Though men pride themselves on their great actions, often they are not the results of any great design, but of chance.

— François De La Rochefoucauld