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We Dread Old Age, Which Are Not Sure Of Being Able To Attain. [fr., L'on Craint La Vieillesse, Que L'on N'est Pas Sur De Pouvoir Atteindre.]
-Jean De La Bruyere
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We Dread Old Age,

Jean De La Bruyere
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We Dread Old Age, Which Are Not Sure Of Being Able To Attain. [fr., L'on Craint La Vieillesse, Que L'on N'est Pas Sur De Pouvoir Atteindre.]

Understanding the Quote: "we dread old age, which are not sure of being able to..."

This quote by Jean De La Bruyere reflects deeply on the theme of age. It connects to the universal human journey of purpose, motivation, and reflection. Often categorized under Age, Able, Not Sure, the quote offers insight, emotional clarity, and intellectual inspiration to readers worldwide.

Whether you’re a student exploring new ideas, a leader trying to motivate your team, or someone seeking direction in life — this quote provides value. It resonates because it’s more than words — it’s a bridge between experience and wisdom. It shows how Jean de la Bruyere interprets life's core challenges and triumphs.

Lessons From the Quote

This quote teaches resilience and focus. It reminds readers that no matter where they stand in life, reflection and self-awareness lead to growth. Each word has meaning, and when studied, it becomes clear how impactful thoughtful language can be.

About Jean De La Bruyere

Jean De La Bruyere is celebrated for insightful thoughts on age and able. Their legacy lives on through writings that guide, comfort, and inspire. Discover more on their profile page.

Actionable Takeaways

  • Reflect on how this quote applies to your current life path.
  • Share the message with someone who needs inspiration.
  • Write your thoughts on this quote in a journal or blog post.
  • Use it as a daily affirmation or reminder.

Closing Thoughts

Quotes like this endure because they capture universal truths. They comfort us in solitude and empower us in groups. Carry this quote forward — live by its wisdom, share its message, and keep its essence alive.

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Topic
Age
Able
Not Sure
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Causes
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He Who Has Lived A Day Has Lived An Age.
Age
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During The Course Of Our Life We Now And Then Enjoy Some Pleasures So Inviting, And Have Some Encounters Of So Tender A Nature, That Though They Are Forbidden, It Is But Natural To Wish That They Were At Least Allowable. Nothing Can Be More Delightful, Except It Be To Abandon Them For Virtue's Sake.
Wish
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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.
Distance
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I Am Told So Many Ill Things Of A Man, And I See So Few In Him, That I Begin To Suspect He Has A Real But Troublesome Merit, As Being Likely To Eclipse That Of Others.
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I Do Not Doubt But That Genuine Piety Is The Spring Of Peace Of Mind; It Enables Us To Bear The Sorrows Of Life, And Lessens The Pangs Of Death: The Same Cannot Be Said Of Hypocrisy.
Spring
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Hatred Is So Lasting And Stubborn, That Reconciliation On A Sickbed Certainly Forebodes Death.
Hate
Hatred
Stubborn
Man Makes Up His Mind He Will Preach, And He Preaches.
Men
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Most Men Spend The First Half Of Their Lives Making The Second Half Miserable.
Sadness
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A Pious Man Is One Who Would Be An Atheist If The King Were.
Atheist
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Time Makes Friendship Stronger, But Love Weaker.
Love
Time
Stronger
Love Seizes Us Suddenly, Without Giving Warning, And Our Disposition Or Our Weakness Favors The Surprise; One Look, One Glance, From The Fair Fixes And Determines Us.
Love
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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.
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Men
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Praise, Of All Things, Is The Most Powerful Excitement To Commendable Actions, And Animates Us In Our Enterprises.
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A Coxcomb Is The Blockhead's Man Of Merit.
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Such A Great Misfortune, Not To Be Able To Be Alone.
Able
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Caprice In Woman Is The Antidote To Beauty.
Caprice
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People Reveal Their Character Even In The Simplest Things They Do. Fools Do Not Enter A Room, Nor Leave It, Nor Sit Down, Nor Rise, Nor Are They Silent, Nor Do They Stand Up, Like People Of Sense And Understanding.
Character
People
Understanding
They That Have Lived A Single Day Have Lived An Age.
Life
Birthday
Age
Friendship Can Exist Between Persons Of Different Sexes, Without Any Coarse Or Sensual Feelings; Yet A Woman Always Looks Upon A Man As A Man, And So A Man Will Look Upon A Woman As A Woman.
Sex
Men
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The Best Thing Next To Wit Is A Consciousness That It Is Not In Us; Without Wit, A Man Might Then Know How To Behave Himself, So As Not To Appear To Be A Fool Or A Coxcomb.
Men
Might
Next
False Modesty Is The Masterpiece Of Vanity: Showing The Vain Man In Such An Illusory Light That He Appears In The Reputation Of The Virtue Quite Opposite To The Vice Which Constitutes His Real Character; It Is A Deceit.
Real
Character
Men
The Finest Pleasure Is Kindness To Others.
Kindness
Finest
Pleasure
High Birth Is A Gift Of Fortune Which Should Never Challenge Esteem Towards Those Who Receive It, Since It Costs Them Neither Study Nor Labor.
Challenges
Cost
Study
If Our Life Is Unhappy It Is Painful To Bear; If It Is Happy It Is Horrible To Lose, So The One Is Pretty Equal To The Other.
Life
Pain
Unhappy
One Mark Of A Second-rate Mind Is To Be Always Telling Stories.
Second Chance
Mind
Stories
The Spendthrift Robs His Heirs The Miser Robs Himself.
Heirs
Misery
Spendthrift
We Wish To Constitute All The Happiness, Or, If That Cannot Be, The Misery Of The One We Love.
Self Love
Wish
Selfishness
The Exact Contrary Of What Is Generally Believed Is Often The Truth.
Truth
Honesty
Contrary
The Slave Has But One Master, The Ambitious Man Has As Many As There Are Persons Whose Aid May Contribute To The Advancement Of His Fortunes.
Work
Ambition
Men
We Should Only Endeavour To Think And Speak Correctly Ourselves, Without Wishing To Bring Others Over To Our Taste And Opinions.
Thinking
Wish
Taste
There Are Some Men Who Turn A Deaf Ear To Reason And Good Advice, And Willfully Go Wrong For Fear Of Being Controlled.
Power
Men
Advice
The Art Of Conversation Consists Far Less In Displaying Much Wit Oneself Than In Helping Others To Be Witty: The Man Who Leaves Your Company Pleased With Himself And His Own Wit Is Very Well Pleased With You.
Spirit
Conversation
Deals
Life Is Short And Tedious, And Is Wholly Spent In Wishing; We Trust To Find Rest And Enjoyment At Some Future Time, Often At An Age When Our Best Blessings, Youth And Health, Have Already Left Us. When At Last I That Time Has Arrived, It Surprises Us In The Midst Of Fresh Desires; We Have Got No Farther When We Are Attacked By A Fever Which Kills Us; If We Had Been Cured, It Would Only Have Been To Give Us More Time For Other Desires.
Life
Blessing
Giving
It Is Often Easier As Well As More Advantageous To Conform To Other Men's Opinions Than To Bring Them Over To Ours.
Men
Opinion
Easier
It Is A Sad Thing When Men Have Neither Enough Intelligence To Speak Well Nor Enough Sense To Hold Their Tongues; This Is The Root Of All Impertinence.
Men
Tongue
Speak
Physiognomy Is Not A Guide That Has Been Given Us By Which To Judge Of The Character Of Men: It May Only Serve Us For Conjecture. [fr., La Physionomie N'est Pas Une Regle Qui Nous Soit Donnee Pour Juger Des Hommes; Elle Nous Peut Servir De Conjecture.]
Character
Men
Judging
To How Many Girls Has A Great Beauty Been Of No Other Use But To Make Them Expect A Large Fortune!
Beauty
Girl
Use
The Court Is Like A Palace Of Marble; It's Composed Of People Very Hard And Very Polished.
Funny
Success
Humorous
A Prince Wants Only The Pleasure Of Private Life To Complete His Happiness.
Want
Pleasure
Private Life
Born Merely For The Purpose Of Digestion.
Purpose
Digestion
Born
There Are Certain Things In Which Mediocrity Is Not To Be Endured, Such As Poetry, Music, Painting, Public Speaking.
Mediocrity
Painting
Public Speaking
Men Blush Less For Their Crimes Than For Their Weaknesses And Vanity.
Men
Vanity
Weakness
If You Wish To Be Held In Esteem, You Must Ssociate Only With Those Who Estimable.
Wish
Esteem
Ifs
Courtly Manners Are Contagious; They Are Caught At Versailles.
Versailles
Manners
Caught
The Generality Of Men Expend The Early Part Of Their Lives In Contributing To Render The Latter Part Miserable.
Men
Miserable
Latter
Some Young People Do Not Sufficiently Understand The Advantages Of Natural Charms, And How Much They Would Gain By Trusting To Them Entirely. They Weaken These Gifts Of Heaven, So Rare And Fragile, By Affected Manners And An Awkward Imitation. Their Tones And Their Gait Are Borrowed; They Study Their Attitudes Before The Glass Until They Have Lost All Trace Of Natural Manner, And, With All Their Pains, They Please But Little.
Pain
Attitude
Glasses
Some Men Promise To Keep Your Secret And Yet Reveal It Without Knowing They Are Doing So; They Do Not Wag Their Lips, And Yet They Are Understood; It Is Read On Their Brow And In Their Eyes; It Is Seen Through Their Breast; They Are Transparent.
Eye
Men
Knowing
Cheats Easily Believe Others As Bad As Themselves; There Is No Deceiving Them, Nor Do They Long Deceive.
Believe
Long
Deceit
Too Great Carelessness, Equally With Excess In Dress, Multiplies The Wrinkles Of Old Age, And Makes Its Decay Still More Conspicuous.
Wrinkles
Age
Dresses
Piety With Some People, But Especially With Women, Is Either A Passion, Or An Infirmity Of Age, Or A Fashion Which Must Be Followed.
Fashion
Passion
People
A Man Starts Upon A Sudden, Takes Pen, Ink, And Paper, And Without Ever Having Had A Thought Of It Before, Resolves Within Himself He Will Write A Book; He Has No Talent At Writing, But He Wants Fifty Guineas.
Book
Writing
Men
There Are But Three Events Which Concern Man: Birth, Life And Death. They Are Unconscious Of Their Birth, They Suffer When They Die, And They Neglect To Live.
Men
Birth Life And Death
Suffering
There Are Some Extraordinary Fathers, Who Seem, During The Whole Course Of Their Lives, To Be Giving Their Children Reasons For Being Consoled At Their Death.
Children
Father
Giving
There Are Only Two Ways By Which To Rise In This World, Either By One's Own Industry Or By The Stupidity Of Others.
Success
Stupid
Two
The Shortest And Best Way To Make Your Fortune Is To Let People See Clearly That It Is In Their Interest To Promote Yours.
Inspirational
Business
People
I Am Not Surprised That Men Who Put Their Trust In An Atom Should Fail In Their Slightest Attempts To Plumb Truth, That With Such Limited Vision They Cannot See Beyond The Sky And The Stars To God Himself; That Since They Cannot Discern The Superiority Of What Is Spiritual Or The Dignity Of Man's Soul, They Are Even More Unaware How Hard It Is To Satisfy, How The Whole Earth Is Unworthy Of It, How Urgently It Needs A Supremely Perfect Being, Who Is God, And How Indispensable To It Is A Religion Which Will Lead It Towards God And Provide A Sure Pledge Of Him.
Stars
Men
Effort
The Noblest Deeds Are Well Enough Set Forth In Simple Language; Emphasis Spoils Them.
Simple
Deeds
Action
Life Is Short, If We Are Only Said To Live When We Enjoy Ourselves; And If We Were Merely To Count Up The Hours We Spent Agreeably, A Great Number Of Years Would Hardly Make Up A Life Of A Few Months.
Life
Years
Numbers
When A Work Lifts Your Spirits And Inspires Bold And Noble Thoughts In You, Do Not Look For Any Other Standard To Judge By: The Work Is Good, The Product Of A Master Craftsman.
Inspirational
Work
Judging
When, After Having Read A Work, Loftier Thoughts Arise In Your Mind And Noble And Heartfelt Feelings Animate You, Do Not Look For Any Other Rule To Judge It By; It Is Fine And Written In A Masterly Manner.
Reading
Judging
Feelings
The Very Impossibility In Which I Find Myself To Prove That God Is Not, Discloses To Me His Existence. [fr., L'impossibilite Ou Je Suis De Prouver Que Dieu N'est Pas, Me Decouvre Son Existence.]
God
Son
Existence
There Is Nothing Which Continues Longer Than A Moderate Fortune; Nothing Of Which One Sees Sooner The End Than A Large Fortune.
Ends
Fortune
Moderates
There Are Three Great Events In Our Lives: Birth, Life And Death. Of Birth We Have No Conscience; With Death, We Suffer; And, Concerning Life, We Forget To Live It.
Birth Life And Death
Suffering
Events
Profound Ignorance Makes A Man Dogmatic. The Man Who Knows Nothing Thinks He Is Teaching Others What He Has Just Learned Himself; The Man Who Knows A Great Deal Can't Imagine That What He Is Saying Is Not Common Knowledge, And Speaks More Indifferently.
Teaching
Ignorance
Men
At The Beginning And At The End Of Love, The Two Lovers Are Embarrassed To Find Themselves Alone.
Love
Life
Dream
We Are Valued In This World At The Rate We Desire To Be Valued.
Self Esteem
Self Worth
Self Respect
Widows, Like Ripe Fruit, Drop Easily From Their Perch.
Widows
Fruit
Ripe Fruit
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.
Men
Thinking
Dignity
We Confide Our Secret To A Friend, But In Love It Escapes Us.
Secret
A Good Author, And One Who Writes Carefully, Often Discovers That The Expression Of Which He Has Been In Search Without Being Able To Discover It, And Which He Has At Last Found, Is That Which Was The Most Simple, The Most Natural, And Which Seems As If It Ought To Have Presented Itself At Once, Without Effort, To The Mind.
Writing
Simple
Expression
Love Has This In Common With Scruples, That It Becomes Embittered By The Reflections And The Thoughts That Beset Us To Free Ourselves.
Reflection
Common
Scruples
There Are But Two Ways Of Rising In The World: Either By One's Own Industry Or Profiting By The Foolishness Of Others. [fr., Il N'y A Au Monde Que Deux Manieres De S'elever, Ou Par Sa Propre Industrie, Ou Par L'imbecilite Des Autres.]
Success
Two
Way
How Many Men Are Like Trees, Already Strong And Full Grown, Which Are Transplanted Into Some Gardens, To The Astonishment Of Those People Who Behold Them In These Fine Spots, Where They Never Saw Them Grow, And Who Neither Know Their Beginning Nor Their Progress!
Strong
Men
Garden
Modesty Is To Merit, What Shade Is To Figures In A Picture; It Gives It Strength And Makes It Stand Out.
Giving
Shade
Merit
It Is Boorish To Live Ungraciously: The Giving Is The Hardest Part; What Does It Cost To Add A Smile?
Smile
Giving
Add
The Fear Of Old Age Disturbs Us, Yet We Are Not Certain Of Becoming Old.
Age
Becoming
Certain
A Faithless Woman, If Known To Be Such By The Person Concerned, Is But Faithless; If She Is Believed Faithful, She Is Treacherous.
Faithful
Adultery
Concerned
Children Have Neither Past Nor Future; They Enjoy The Present, Which Very Few Of Us Do.
Life
Baby
Time
Nothing More Clearly Shows How Little God Esteems His Gift To Men Of Wealth, Money, Position And Other Worldly Goods, Than The Way He Distributes These, And The Sort Of Men Who Are Most Amply Provided With Them.
Funny
Money
Men
We Should Keep Silent About Those In Power; To Speak Well Of Them Almost Implies Flattery; To Speak Ill Of Them While They Are Alive Is Dangerous, And When They Are Dead Is Cowardly.
Power
Alive
Flattery
Nothing Keeps Longer Than A Middling Fortune, And Nothing Melts Away Sooner Than A Large One.
Wealth
Fortune
A Vain Man Finds It Wise To Speak Good Or Ill Of Himself; A Modest Man Does Not Talk Of Himself.
Wise
Men
Doe
Great Things Astonish Us, And Small Dishearten Us. Custom Makes Both Familiar.
Familiar
Great Things
Customs
He Who Can Wait For What He Desires Takes The Course Not To Be Exceedingly Grieved If He Fails Of It; He, On The Contrary, Who Labors After A Thing Too Impatiently Thinks The Success When It Comes Is Not A Recompense Equal To All The Pains He Has Been At About It.
Pain
Failure
Thinking
The State Not Seldom Tolerates A Comparatively Great Evil To Keep Out Millions Of Lesser Ills And Inconveniences Which Otherwise Would Be Inevitable And Without Remedy.
Evil
Would Be
States
Party Loyalty Lowers The Greatest Men To The Petty Level Of The Masses.
Loyalty
Party
Men
Laziness Begat Wearisomeness, And This Put Men In Quest Of Diversions, Play And Company, On Which However It Is A Constant Attendant; He Who Works Hard, Has Enough To Do With Himself Otherwise.
Hard Work
Men
Play
As Long As Men Are Liable To Die And Are Desirous To Live, A Physician Will Be Made Fun Of, But He Will Be Well Paid.
Fun
Health
Men
The Court Is Like A Palace Built Of Marble; I Mean That It Is Made Up Of Very Hard But Very Polished People. [fr., La Cour Est Comme Un Edifice Bati De Marbre; Je Veux Dire Qu'elle Est Composee D'hommes Fort Durs Mais Fort Polis.]
Mean
People
Palaces
Let Us Not Envy Some Men Their Accumulated Riches; Their Burden Would Be Too Heavy For Us; We Could Not Sacrifice, As They Do, Health, Quiet, Honor And Conscience, To Obtain Them: It Is To Pay So Dear From Them That The Bargain Is A Loss.
Loss
Sacrifice
Men
There Is No Excess In The World So Commendable As Excessive Gratitude.
Gratitude
Excess
World
To Give Awkwardly Is Churlishness. The Most Difficult Part Is To Give, Then Why Not Add A Smile?
Generosity
Giving
Add
All Confidence Placed In Another Is Dangerous If It Is Not Perfect, For On Almost All Occasions We Ought To Tell Everything Or To Conceal Everything. We Have Already Told Too Much Of Our Secret, If One Single Circumstance Is To Be Kept Back.
Perfect
Secret
Too Much
You May Drive A Dog Off The King's Armchair, And It Will Climb Into The Preacher's Pulpit; He Views The World Unmoved, Unembarrassed, Unabashed.
Dog
Kings
Views
The Pleasure We Feel In Criticizing Robs Us From Being Moved By Very Beautiful Things.
Beautiful
Criticism
Pleasure
There Is What Is Called The Highway To Posts And Honor, And There Is A Cross And By Way, Which Is Much The Shortest.
Honor
Way
Popularity
The Rarest Things In The World, Next To A Spirit Of Discernment, Are Diamonds And Pearls. [fr., Apres L'esprit De Discernement, Ce Qu'il Y A Au Monde De Plus Rare, Ce Sont Les Diamants Et Les Perles.]
Jewels
World
Pearls
For A Long Time Visits Among Lovers And Professions Of Love Are Kept Up Through Habit, After Their Behavior Has Plainly Proved That Love No Longer Exists.
Long
Lovers
Behavior
A Man Must Be Completely Wanting In Intelligence If He Does Not Show It When Actuated By Love, Malice, Or Necessity.
Men
Intelligence
Doe
A Position Of Eminence Makes A Great Person Greater And A Small Person Less.
Greatness
Small Person
Great Person
A Fool Is One Whom Simpletons Believe To Be A Man On Merit. [fr., Un Fat Celui Que Les Sots Croient Un Homme De Merite.]
Believe
Men
Fool
It's Motive Alone Which Gives Character To The Actions Of Men.
Character
Men
Giving
One Should Never Risk A Joke, Even Of The Mildest And Most Unexceptional Charters, Except Among People Of Culture And Wit.
People
Risk
Culture
We Perceive When Love Begins And When It Declines By Our Embarrassment When Alone Together.
Love
Together
Sad Valentines Day
A Mediocre Mind Thinks It Writes Divinely; A Good Mind Thinks It Writes Reasonably.
Writing
Thinking
Mind
Generosity Lies Less In Giving Much Than In Giving At The Right Moment.
Inspirational
Lying
Generosity
Men Blush Less For Their Crimes Than For Their Weaknesses And Vanity. [fr., Les Hommes Rougissent Moins De Leur Crimes Que De Leurs Faiblesses Et De Leur Vanite.]
Men
Vanity
Weakness
We Never Deceive For A Good Purpose: Knavery Adds Malice To Falsehood.
Knavery
Deceit
Add
When A Secret Is Revealed, It Is The Fault Of The Man Who Confided It.
Men
Secret
Faults
As A Man Falls Out Of Favour And His Wealth Declines, We Discover For The First Time The Ridiculous Aspects Of His Character, Which Were Always There But Which Wealth And Favour Had Concealed.
Men
Favors
Riches
I Would Not Like To See A Person Who Is Sober, Moderate, Chaste And Just Say That There Is No God. They Would Speak Disinterestedly At Least, But Such A Person Is Not To Be Found.
God
Sober
Speak
There Are Few Wives So Perfect As Not To Give Their Husbands At Least Once A Day Good Reason To Repent Of Ever Having Married, Or At Least Of Envying Those Who Are Unmarried.
Marriage
Husband
Giving
The Fears Of Old Age Disturb Us, Yet How Few Attain It?
Age
Old Age
The Great Slight The Men Of Wit, Who Have Nothing But Wit; The Men Of Wit Despise The Great, Who Have Nothing But Greatness; The Good Man Pities Them Both, If With Greatness Or Wit They Have Not Virtue.
Greatness
Men
Good Man
I Never Have Wit Until I Am Below Stairs. [fr., Je N'ai Jamais D'esprit Qu'au Bas De L'escalier.]
Stairs
Wit
Tyranny Has No Need Of Arts Or Sciences, For Its Policy, Which Is Very Shallow And Without Any Refinement, Only Consists In Shedding Blood.
Art
Blood
Tyrants
The Mind, Like All Other Things, Will Become Impaired, The Sciences Are Its Food,--they Nourish, But At The Same Time They Consume It.
Mind
We Dread Old Age, Which Are Not Sure Of Being Able To Attain. [fr., L'on Craint La Vieillesse, Que L'on N'est Pas Sur De Pouvoir Atteindre.]
Age
Able
Not Sure
Women Become Attached To Men By The Intimacies They Grant Them; Men Are Cured Of Their Love By The Same Intimacies.
Women
Men
Intimacy
Mockery Is Often The Result Of A Poverty Of Wit.
Poverty
Results
Wit
Rarely Do They Appear Great Before Their Valets. [fr., Rarement Ils Sont Grands Vis-a-vis De Leur Valets-de-chambre.]
Hero
Valet
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.
Knowing
World
Faces
He Who Knows How To Wait For What He Desires Does Not Feel Very Desperate If He Fails In Obtaining It; And He, On The Contrary, Who Is Very Impatient In Procuring A Certain Thing, Takes So Much Pains About It, That, Even When He Is Successful, He Does Not Think Himself Sufficiently Rewarded.
Pain
Successful
Thinking
Foolish Jokers Are Thick On The Ground, And It Rains Insects Of That Sort Everywhere. A Good Joker Is A Rarity; Even A Man Who Is Such By Nature Finds It Hard To Sustain The Part For Long; It Seldom Happens That The Man Who Makes Us Laugh Wins Our Esteem.
Country
Way
Kind
Logic Is The Art Of Convincing Us Some Truth.
Art
Logic
Convincing
A Modest Man Never Talks Of Himself.
Men
Modesty
Modest
Politeness Makes One Appear Outwardly As They Should Be Within.
Manners
Should
Politeness
The Same Principle Leads Us To Neglect A Man Of Merit That Induces Us To Admire A Fool. [fr., Du Meme Fonds Dont On Neglige Un Homme De Merite L'on Sait Encore Admirer Un Sot.]
Men
Principles
Fool
It Seems To Me That The Spirit Of Politeness Is A Certain Attention In Causing That, By Our Words And By Our Manners, Others May Be Content With Us And With Themselves.
Our Words
Attention
May
An Egotist Will Always Speak Of Himself, Either In Praise Or In Censure, But A Modest Man Ever Shuns Making Himself The Subject Of His Conversation.
Men
Speak
Praise
To Endeavor To Forget Anyone Is A Certain Way Of Thinking Of Nothing Else.
Thinking
Way
Forget
Profane Eloquence Is Transfered From The Bar, Where Le Maitre, Pucelle, And Fourcroy Formerly Practised It, And Where It Has Become Obsolete, To The Pulpit, Where It Is Out Of Place.
Bars
Obsolete
Pulpit
In All Conditions Of Life A Poor Man Is A Near Neighbor To An Honest One, And A Rich Man Is As Little Removed From A Knave.
Men
Littles
Knaves
If You Suppress The Exorbitant Love Of Pleasure And Money, Idle Curiosity, Iniquitous Pursuits And Wanton Mirth, What A Stillness Would There Be In The Greatest Cities.
Cities
Curiosity
Mirth
Pure Friendship Is Something Which Men Of An Inferior Intellect Can Never Taste.
Friendship
Men
Taste
The Nearer We Come To Great Men The More Clearly We See That They Are Only Men. They Rarely Seem Great To Their Valets.
Greatness
Men
Valet
How Much Wit, Good-nature, Indulgences, How Many Good Offices And Civilities, Are Required Among Friends To Accomplish In Some Years What A Lovely Face Or A Fine Hand Does In A Minute!
Beauty
Hands
Years
He Who Will Not Listen To Any Advice, Nor Be Corrected In His Writings, Is A Rank Pedant.
Writing
Advice
Pedants
Two Quite Opposite Qualities Equally Bias Our Minds - Habits And Novelty.
Opposites
Two
Mind
A Man Who Is Free And Unmarried, If He Has Some Intelligence, Can Rise Above His Fortune, Mingle In Society And Meet The Best People On An Equal Footing. This Is Harder For A Married Man: Marriage, It Seems, Confines Every Man To His Proper Rank.
Wedding
Men
Seems
There Are Some Souls So Base And Filthy That They Love Gain And Interest As Noble Souls Love Fame And Virtue, Knowing One Pleasure Only, That Of Making Money Or Of Not Losing It; Anxious And Avid For Their Ten Per Cent; Entirely Preoccupied With What Is Owed Them; Forever Concerned About The Depreciation Or Discredit Of Money; Buried, And As It Were Engulfed, Amid Contracts, Title-deeds And Parchments. Such People Are Neither Parents, Friends, Citizens Or Christians, Nor, Perhaps, Even Men; They Merely Have Money.
Greed
Soul
Mind
There Is No Employment In The World So Laborious As That Of Making To One's Self A Great Name; Life Ends Before One Has Scarcely Made The First Rough Draught Of His Work.
Self
Names
Employment
You Think Him To Be Your Dupe; If He Feigns To Be So Who Is The Greater Dupe, He Or You?
Thinking
Dupes
Deceit
Days, Months, Years Fly Away, And Irrecoverably Sink In The Abyss Of Time.
Time
Years
Months
Children Enjoy The Present Because They Have Neither A Past Nor A Future.
Children
Past
Enjoy
If Men Wish To Be Held In Esteem, They Must Associate With Those Only Who Are Estimable.
Men
Wish
Esteem
Young People Are Dazzled By The Brilliancy Of Antithesis, And Employ It. Matter-of-fact Men, And Those Who Like Precision, Naturally Fall Into Comparisons And Metaphor. Sprightly Natures, Full Of Fire, And Whom A Boundless Imagination Carries Beyond All Rules, And Even What Is Reasonable, Cannot Rest Satisfied Even With Hyperbole. As For The Sublime, It Is Only Great Geniuses And Those Of The Very Highest Order That Are Able To Rise To Its Height.
Fall
Men
Order
It Is Through Madness That We Hate An Enemy, And Think Of Revenging Ourselves; And It Is Through Indolence That We Are Appeased, And Do Not Revenge Ourselves.
Revenge
Hate
Thinking
A Look Of Intelligence Is What Regularity Of Features Is To Women: It Is A Styule Of Beauty To Which The Most Vain May Aspire. [fr., L'air Spirituel Est Dans Les Hommes Ce Que La Regularite Des Traits Est Dans Les Femmes: C'est Le Genre De Beaute Ou Les Plus Vains Puissent Aspirer.]
Beauty
Air
Looks
The Best Way To Get On In The World Is To Make People Believe It's To Their Advantage To Help You.
Work
Believe
People
Every Hour In Itself, As It Respects Us In Particular, Is The Only One We Can Call Our Own.
Time
Hours
Particular
If This Life Is Unhappy, It Is A Burden To Us, Which It Is Difficult To Bear; If It Is In Every Respect Happy, It Is Dreadful To Be Deprived Of It; So That In Either Case The Result Is The Same, For We Must Exist In Anxiety And Apprehension.
Life
Anxiety
Unhappy
There Exist Some Evils So Terrible And Some Misfortunes So Horrible That We Dare Not Think Of Them, Whilst Their Very Aspect Makes Us Shudder; But If They Happen To Fall On Us, We Find Ourselves Stronger Than We Imagined, We Grapple With Our Ill Luck, And Behave Better Than We Expected We Should.
Fear
Fall
Thinking
The Most Delicate, The Most Sensible Of All Pleasures, Consists In Promoting The Pleasure Of Others.
Pleasure
Sensible
Delicate
A Woman Is Easily Governed, If A Man Takes Her In Hand.
Women
Men
Hands
In Friendship We Only See Those Faults Which May Be Prejudicial To Our Friends. In Love We See No Faults But Those By Which We Suffer Ourselves.
Friendship
Suffering
May
The Majority Of Women Have No Principles Of Their Own; They Are Guided By The Heart, And Depend For Their Own Conduct, Upon That Of The Men They Love.
Women
Heart
Majority
One Seeks To Make The Loved One Entirely Happy, Or, If That Cannot Be, Entirely Wretched.
Love
Life
Wretched
A Wise Man Neither Suffers Himself To Be Governed, Nor Attempts To Govern Others.
Wise
Men
Government
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.
Husband
Two
Coquette
When We Are Dead We Are Praised By Those Who Survive Us, Though We Frequently Have No Other Merit Than That Of Being No Longer Alive.
Alive
Merit
Reputation
It Is Not So Easy To Obtain A Reputation By A Perfect Work As To Enhance The Value Of An Indifferent One By A Reputation Already Acquired.
Perfect
Reputation
Easy
We Should Laugh Before Being Happy, For Fear Of Dying Without Having Laughed.
Happiness
Happy
Laughing
The Punishment Of A Criminal Is An Example To The Rabble; But Every Decent Man Is Concerned If An Innocent Person Is Condemned.
Men
Innocent Person
Criminals
When A Plain-looking Woman Is Loved, It Is Certain To Be Very Passionately ; For Either Her Influence On Her Lover Is Irresistible, Or She Has Some Secret And More Irresistible Charms Than Those Of Beauty.
Secret
Lovers
Influence
When A Man Puts On A Character He Is A Stranger To, There's As Much Difference Between What He Appears, And What He Is Really In Himself, As There Is Between A Vizor And A Face.
Character
Men
Differences
Even The Best Intentioned Of Great Men Need A Few Scoundrels Around Them; There Are Some Things You Cannot Ask An Honest Ma To Do.
Men
Political
Needs
What Is Certain In Death Is Somewhat Softened By What Is Uncertain; It Is An Indefiniteness In The Time, Which Holds A Certain Relation To The Infinite, And What Is Called Eternity.
Death
Infinite
Eternity
Languages Are No More Than The Keys Of Sciences. He Who Despises One, Slights The Other.
Keys
Language
Despise
No Road Is To Long For Him Who Advances Slowly And Does Not Hurry And No Attainment Is Beyond His Reach Who Equips Himself With Patience To Achieve It
Inspirational
Long
Goal
They Who, Without Any Previous Knowledge Of Us, Think Amiss Of Us, Do Us No Harm; They Attack Not Us, But The Phantom Of Their Own Imagination.
Thinking
Imagination
Prejudice
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.
Quality
Vices
May
The Opera Is Obviously The First Draft Of A Fine Spectacle; It Suggests The Idea Of One.
Funny
Humorous
Ideas
The Pleasure Of Criticizing Takes Away From Us The Pleasure Of Being Moved By Some Very Fine Things.
Criticism
Pleasure
Fine Things
Politeness Does Not Always Inspire Goodness, Equity, Complaisance, And Gratitude; It Gives At Least The Appearance Of These Qualities, And Makes Man Appear Outwardly, As He Should Be Within.
Gratitude
Men
Giving
Death Happens But Once, Yet We Feel It Every Moment Of Our Lives; It Is Worse To Dread It Than To Suffer It.
Death
Suffering
Moments
Those Who Make The Worst Use Of Their Time Are The First To Complain Of Its Shortness.
Inspirational
Time
Life Is Too Short
A Coxcomb Is One Whom Simpletons Believe To Be A Man Of Merit.
Believe
Ignorance
Men
To Forget Someone Means To Think Of Him.
Mean
Thinking
Forget
It Is Weakness Which Makes Us Hate An Enemy And Seek Revenge, And It Is Idleness That Pacifies Us And Causes Us To Neglect It.
Revenge
Hate
Enemy
Wit Is The God Of Moments, But Genius Is The God Of Ages.
Age
Genius
Moments
He Who Only Writes To Suit The Taste Of The Age, Considers Himself More Than His Writings. We Should Always Aim At Perfection, And Then Posterity Will Do Us That Justice Which Sometimes Our Contemporaries Refuse Us.
Writing
Justice
Perfection
We Need Not Envy Certain People Their Great Wealth; They Acquired It At A Heavy Cost, Which Would Not Suit Us; They Staked Their Rest, Their Health, Their Honour And Their Conscience To Acquire It, The Price Is Too High, And There Is Nothing To Be Gained By Such A Bargain.
Men
Class
Envy
What Greater Weakness Can There Be Than Not To Know What Is The Source Of One's Being, Of One's Life, Of One's Senses, Of One's Knowledge, And What Is To Be Their End? What Can Be More Deeply Disheartening Than To Wonder Whether One's Soul Is, Perhaps, A Material Thing, Like A Stone Or A Reptile, Corruptible Like These Base Creatures? Is There Not More Strength And Greatness Of Mind In Admitting The Idea Of A Being Superior To All Other Beings, Who Has Made Them All And To Whom All Owe Their Existence; Of A Being Supremely Perfect, Who Is Pure, Who Had No Beginning And Can Have No Ending, Of Whom Our Soul Is The Image And, So To Speak, A Portion, Being A Spiritual And Immortal Thing?
Spiritual
Men
Ideas
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.
Long
Fool
Disappear
If A Handsome Woman Allows That Another Woman Is Beautiful, We May Safely Conclude She Excels Her.
Beautiful
Women
May
Eloquence May Be Found In Conversations And In All Kinds Of Writings; It Is Rarely Found When Looked For, And Sometimes Discovered Where It Is Least Expected.
Writing
May
Kind
If Women Were By Nature What They Make Themselves By Art; If They Were To Lose Suddenly All The Freshness Of Their Complexion, And Their Faces To Become As Fiery And As Leaden As They Make Them With The Red And The Paint They Besmear Themselves With, They Would Consider Themselves The Most Wretched Creatures On Earth.
Art
Red
Faces
Love, Slow And Gradual In Its Growth, Is Too Much Like Friendship Ever To Be A Violent Passion.
Passion
Growth
Too Much
We Must Strive To Make Ourselves Really Worthy Of Some Employment. We Need Pay No Attention To Anything Else; The Rest Is The Business Of Others.
Needs
Attention
Employment
I Cannot Forbid A Person To Marry Several Wives, For It Does Not Contradict Scripture. Martin Luther, Letter To Chancellor Gregory Brück, January 13, 1524 Marriage, It Seems, Confines Every Man To His Proper Rank.
Marriage
Men
Wife
As Riches And Honor Forsake A Man, We Discover Him To Be A Fool, But Nobody Could Find It Out In His Prosperity.
Men
Honor
Riches
A Man Only Goes And Confesses His Faults To The World When His Self Will Not Acknowledge Or Listen To Them. Wyndham Lewis, Tarr Two Persons Will Not Be Friends Long If They Are Not Inclined To Pardon Each Other's Little Failings.
Men
Self
Two
A Man Of Moderate Understanding, Thinks He Writes Divinely: A Man Of Good Understanding, Thinks He Writes Reasonably.
Writing
Men
Thinking
If Some Persons Died, And Others Did Not Die, Death Would Be A Terrible Affliction.
Death
Dying
Would Be
The Wise Person Often Shuns Society For Fear Of Being Bored.
Wise
Fear
Bores You
In Art Them Is A Point Of Perfection, As Of Goodness Or Maturity In Nature; He Who Is Able To Perceive It, And Who Loves It, Has Perfect Taste; He Who Does Not Feel It, Or Loves On This Side Or That, Has An Imperfect Taste.
Art
Maturity
Perfect
Don't Wait To Be Happy To Laugh... You May Die And Never Have Laughed.
Happiness
Laughing
Waiting
A Guilty Man Is Punished As An Example For The Mob; An Innocent Man Convicted Is The Business Of Every Honest Citizen.
Men
Innocent Man
Example
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