To praise great actions with sincerity may be said to be taking part in them. — Francois de La Rochefoucauld Copy Share Image
There are reproaches which praise, and praises which defame. — Francois de La Rochefoucauld Copy Share Image
We seldom praise anyone in good earnest, except such as admire us. — Francois de La Rochefoucauld Copy Share Image
The mark of extraordinary merit is to see those most envious of it constrained to praise. — Francois de La Rochefoucauld Copy Share Image
The desire which urges us to deserve praise strengthens our good qualities, and praise given to wit, valour, and beauty, tends to… — Francois de La Rochefoucauld Copy Share Image
Nothing ought more to humiliate men who have merited great praise than the care they still take to boast of little things. — Francois de La Rochefoucauld Copy Share Image
It is oftener by the estimation of our own feelings that we exaggerate the good qualities of others than by their merit,… — Francois de La Rochefoucauld Copy Share Image
We are not fond of praising, and never praise any one except from interested motives. Praise is a clever, concealed, and delicate… — Francois de La Rochefoucauld Copy Share Image
Everyone praises his heart, none dare praise their understanding. — Francois de La Rochefoucauld Copy Share Image
None deserve praise for being good who have not the spirit to be bad: goodness, for the most part, is nothing but… — Francois de La Rochefoucauld Copy Share Image
Few people have the wisdom to prefer the criticism that would do them good, to the praise that deceives them. — Francois de La Rochefoucauld Copy Share Image
Few are sufficiently wise to prefer censure which is useful to praise which is treacherous. — Francois de La Rochefoucauld Copy Share Image
To praise great actions is in some sense to share them. — Francois de La Rochefoucauld Copy Share Image
We often make use of envenomed praise, that reveals on the rebound, as it were, defects in those praised which we dare… — Francois de La Rochefoucauld Copy Share Image
Magnanimity is sufficiently defined by its name, nevertheless one can say it is the good sense of pride, the most noble way… — Francois de La Rochefoucauld Copy Share Image
That man, we may be sure, is a person of true worth, whom those who envy him most are yet forced to… — Francois de La Rochefoucauld Copy Share Image
We do not like to praise, and seldom praise anyone without self-interest. — Francois de La Rochefoucauld Copy Share Image
Generally speaking, we would make a good bargain by renouncing all the good that people say of us, upon condition they would… — Francois de La Rochefoucauld Copy Share Image
The shame that arises from praise which we do not deserve often makes us do things we should otherwise never have attempted. — Francois de La Rochefoucauld Copy Share Image
When we disclaim praise, it is only showing our desire to be praised a second time. — Francois de La Rochefoucauld Copy Share Image
To praise princes for virtues they do not possess is to insult them without fear of consequences. — Francois de La Rochefoucauld Copy Share Image
We wish to attract praise to ourselves even as we seem to be praising others — François De La Rochefoucauld Copy Share Image
He who refuses praise the first time that it is offered does so because he would hear it a second time. — Francois de La Rochefoucauld Copy Share Image
Our own distrust gives a fair pretence for the knavery of other people. — Francois de La Rochefoucauld Copy Share Image
Behind many acts that are thought ridiculous there lie wise and weighty motives. — Francois de La Rochefoucauld Copy Share Image
“Passion often makes a madman of the cleverest man, and renders the greatest fools clever.” — François de La Rochefoucauld Copy Share Image
Perseverance is neither praiseworthy nor blameworthy; for it seems to be only the enduring of certain inclinations and opinions which men neither give themselves… — Francois de La Rochefoucauld Copy Share Image
A woman is faithful to her first lover for a long time - unless she happens to take a second. — Francois de La Rochefoucauld Copy Share Image
We are almost always wearied in the company of persons with whom we are not permitted to be weary. — Francois de La Rochefoucauld Copy Share Image
The love of new acquaintance comes not so much from being weary of what we had before, or from any satisfaction there is in… — Francois de La Rochefoucauld Copy Share Image
It is sometimes necessary to play the fool to avoid being deceived by cunning men. — Francois de La Rochefoucauld Copy Share Image
The intention of never deceiving often exposes us to deception. — Francois de La Rochefoucauld Copy Share Image
Jealousy springs more from love of self than from love of another. — Francois de La Rochefoucauld Copy Share Image
No persons are more frequently wrong, than those who will not admit they are wrong. — Francois de La Rochefoucauld Copy Share Image
