Quotessence
Home / Quotes / Quote by Jean de La Bruyère

Quote by Jean de La Bruyère

“The very essence of politeness is to take care that by our words and actions we make other people pleased with us as well as with themselves.”

Quote by Jean de La Bruyère

Create image

Author

Jean de La Bruyère

Browse famous quotes and profile details for Jean de La Bruyère. more

You May Also Like

“To that point, he had always found the vicomtesse overflowing with friendly politeness, that sweet-flowing grace conferred by an aristocratic education, and which is never truly there unless it comes, automatically and unthinkingly, straight from the heart. [...] For anyone who had learned the social code, and Rastignac had absorbed it all in a flash, these words, that gesture, that look, that inflection in her voice, summed up all there was to know about the nature and the ways of men and women of her class. He was vividly aware of the iron hand underneath the velvet glove; the personality, and especially the self-centeredness, under the polished manners; the plain hard wood, under all the varnish. [...] Eugène had been entirely too quick to take this woman's word for her own kindness. Like all those who cannot help themselves, he had signed on the dotted line, accepting the delightful contract binding both benefactor and recipient, the very first clause of which makes clear that, as between noble souls, perfect equality must be forever maintained. Beneficience, which ties people together, is a heavenly passion, but a thoroughly misunderstood one, and quite as scarce as true love. Both stem from the lavish nature of great souls.”

PeopleKindCharacterKindnessPersonalityTiesHypocrisyBeneficience
Book:Père Goriot
Create image