François de La Rochefoucauld

"The art of using moderate abilities to advantage wins praise, and often acquires more reputation than actual brilliancy."

"Absence diminishes small loves and increases great ones, as the wind blows out the candle and fans the bonfire."

"Though sincerity and confidence have many points of resemblance, they have yet many points of difference. Sincerity is an openness of heart, which shows us what we are, a love of truth, a dislike to d…"

"Few men, nevertheless, can have unison in many matters without being a copy of each other, if each follow his natural turn of mind. But in general a person will not wholly follow it. He loves to imita…"

"No persons are more frequently wrong, than those who will not admit they are wrong."

"We should observe the place, the occasion, the temper in which we find the person who listens to us, for if there is much art in speaking to the purpose, there is no less in knowing when to be silent.…"

"Thousands of people with good qualities are displeasing; thousands pleasing with far less abilities, and why? Because the first wish to appear to be what they are not, the second are what they appear.…"

"The word taste has different meanings, which it is easy to mistake. There is a difference between the taste which in certain objects has an attraction for us, and the taste that makes us understand an…"