French moralist of the era of French Classical literature and author of Maximes and Memoirs
Being a blockhead is sometimes the best security against being cheated by a man of wit.
That good disposition which boasts of being most tender is often stifled by the least urging of self-interest.
We always get bored with those whom we bore.
Jealously is always born with love but it does not die with it.
If there be a love pure and free from the admixture of our other passions, it is that which lies hidden in the bottom of our heart, and which we know not ourselves.
We may sooner be brought to love them that hate us, than them that love us more than we would have them do.
People's personalities, like buildings, have various facades, some pleasant to view, some not.
We are more often treacherous through weakness than through calculation.
The moderation of people in prosperity is the effect of a smooth and composed temper, owing to the calm of their good fortune.
Perfect valour consists in doing without witnesses that which we would be capable of doing before everyone.