“Amongst such as out of cunning hear all and talk little, be sure to talk less; or if you must talk, say little.” Quote by Jean de la Bruyere
“The fool only is troublesome. A plan of sense perceives when he is agreeable or tiresome; he disappears the very minute before he would have been thought to have stayed too long.” LongHas BeensPlansMinutesFoolConversationDisappearPerceiveTroublesomeTiresome Author:Jean de la Bruyere
“The great charm of conversation consists less in the display of one's own wit and intelligence than in the power to draw forth the resources of others.” ConversationDrawsResourcesWitCharmDisplay Author:Jean de la Bruyere
“There is speaking well, speaking easily, speaking justly and speaking seasonably: It is offending against the last, to speak of entertainments before the indigent; of sound limbs and health before the infirm; of houses and lands before one who has not so much as a dwelling; in a word, to speak of your prosperity before the miserable; this conversation is cruel, and the comparison which naturally arises in them betwixt their condition and yours is excruciating.” WellsLastsHouseSpeakSoundLandConditionsConversationProsperityEntertainmentAriseMiserableComparisonLimbsDwellingOffendingSpeaking Well Author:Jean de la Bruyere
“A coquette is one that is never to be persuaded out of the passion she has to please, nor out of a good opinion of her own beauty: time and years she regards as things that only wrinkle and decay other women, forgetting that age is written in the face, and that the same dress which became her when she was young now only makes her look older.” YearsLooksAgeFacesYoungPassionForgetOpinionWrittenPleaseRegardDressesDecayWrinklesCoquette Author:Jean de la Bruyere
“For a woman to be at once a coquette and a bigot is more than the humblest of husbands can bear; she should mercifully choose between the two.” ShouldTwoBearsHusbandBigotsCoquette Author:Jean de la Bruyere
“All the world says of a coxcomb that he is a coxcomb; but no one dares to say so to his face, and he dies without knowing it.” WorldFacesDiesKnowingDare Author:Jean de la Bruyere
“It is very rare to find ground which produces nothing; if it is not covered with flowers, with fruit trees and grains, it produces briers and pines. It is the same with man; if he is not virtuous, he becomes vicious.” IfsMenCultureTreeProduceFlowerFruitCoveredVirtuousGrainViciousFruit Trees Author:Jean de la Bruyere
“Cunning is none of the best nor worst qualities; it floats between virtue and vice; there is scarce any exigence where it may not, and perhaps ought not to be supplied by prudence.” MayQualityVirtueWorstOughtVicesCunningFloatsPrudenceScarce Author:Jean de la Bruyere
“Great things astonish us, and small dishearten us. Custom makes both familiar.” FamiliarGreat ThingsCustoms Author:Jean de la Bruyere