"Anyone placed at exactly the same distance between yourself and your enemy will always appear closer to your enemy."

Nicolas Chamfort Politics See all quotes by Nicolas Chamfort →

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More by Nicolas Chamfort

“A man begins every stage of his life as a novice.”

“I asked M.—why he'd turned down the offer of a particular post. “I didn't want a post where the office is more important than the holder of it,” he replied.”

“Someone was talking about the respect we owe the public. “Yes,” said M...., “It's a question of prudence. Nobody has a high opinion of fishwives but who would dare offend them while walking through the fish market.”

“Every day I add to the list of things I refuse to discuss. The wiser the man, the longer the list.”

“In the world you have three sorts of friends: your friends who love you, your friends who do not care about you and your friends who hate you.”

“Public opinion reigns in society because stupidity reigns amongst the stupid.”

Resonant Thoughts

"It is necessary, therefore, to prove clearly that in the Early Church, at least, Christianity was no whit behind other great religions in possessing a hidden side, and that it guarded, as a priceless …"

— Annie Besant

Politics1847–1933

#life

"The distance between folk society and literate society is ever decreasing, and Teresa Brewer will yet shake hands with Mrs. Texas Gladden. But until that happens—until my own culture, and Teresa Brewe…"

— Sam Hinton

Science1917–2009

#music

"We would learn more by looking at America. Oddly enough, statistics appear only in times of agitation and distress. Their function would appear to be that of omens of worse to come. We seem to have a …"

— Rose Wilder Lane

Literature1886–1968

#time

"Women have always been the primary victims of war. Women lose their husbands, their fathers, their sons in combat. Women often have to flee from the only homes they have ever known. Women are often th…"

— Hillary Clinton

Politics1947

#family