Reflections; or Sentences and Moral Maxims — François de La Rochefoucauld

Reflections; or Sentences and Moral Maxims

François de La Rochefoucauld · Лицензия: Public domain · Источник

• There are some lovely, it is true, but which are wearisome. ¶880
• There are some which are lovely, which all the world admire, but without knowing why. ¶881
• There are some so refined and delicate that few are capable even of remarking all their beauties. ¶882
• There are others which, though imperfect, yet are produced with such skill, and sustained and managed with such sense and grace, that they even deserve to be admired. ¶883
• Some persons have more wit than taste, others have more taste than wit. There is greater vanity and caprice in taste than in wit. ¶885
• 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 and distinguish the qualities we judge by. ¶886
• We may like a comedy without having a sufficiently fine and delicate taste to criticise it accurately. Some tastes lead us imperceptibly to objects, from which others carry us away by their force or intensity. ¶887
• Some have a species of instinct (the source of which they are ignorant of), and decide all questions that come before them by its aid, and always decide rightly. ¶889
• In speaking of society my plan is not to speak of friendship, for, though they have some connection, they are yet very different. The former has more in it of greatness and humility, and the greatest merit of the latter is to resemble the former. ¶894
• For the present I shall speak of that particular kind of intercourse that gentlemen should have with each other. It would be idle to show how far society is essential to men: all seek for it, and all find it, but few adopt the method of making it pleasant and lasting. ¶895
• The mind has a great part to do in so great a work, but it is not merely sufficient for us to guide it in the different courses it should hold. ¶897
• The agreement we meet between minds would not keep society together for long if she was not governed and sustained by good sense, temper, and by the consideration which ought to exist between persons who have to live together. ¶898
• Complaisance is essential in society, but it should have its limits, it becomes a slavery when it is extreme. We should so render a free consent, that in following the opinion of our friends they should believe that they follow ours. ¶901
• We should readily excuse our friends when their faults are born with them, and they are less than their good qualities. We should often avoid to show what they have said, and what they have left unsaid. We should try to make them perceive their faults, so as to give them the merit of correcting them. ¶902
• There is a kind of politeness which is necessary in the intercourse among gentlemen, it makes them comprehend badinage, and it keeps them from using and employing certain figures of speech, too rude and unrefined, which are often used thoughtlessly when we hold to our opinion with too much warmth. ¶903
• The intercourse of gentlemen cannot subsist without a certain kind of confidence; this should be equal on both sides. Each should have an appearance of sincerity and of discretion which never causes the fear of anything imprudent being said. ¶904
• Thus the intercourse between gentlemen at once gives them familiarity and furnishes them with an infinite number of subjects on which to talk freely. ¶907
• Few persons have sufficient tact and good sense fairly to appreciate many matters that are essential to maintain society. We desire to turn away at a certain point, but we do not want to be mixed up in everything, and we fear to know all kinds of truth. ¶908
• The reason why so few persons are agreeable in conversation is that each thinks more of what he desires to say, than of what the others say, and that we make bad listeners when we want to speak. ¶911
• To please others we should talk on subjects they like and that interest them, avoid disputes upon indifferent matters, seldom ask questions, and never let them see that we pretend to be better informed than they are. ¶913
• We should talk in a more or less serious manner, and upon more or less abstruse subjects, according to the temper and understanding of the persons we talk with, and readily give them the advantage of deciding without obliging them to answer when they are not anxious to talk. ¶914
• We cannot give too great study to find out the manner and the capacity of those with whom we talk, so as to join in the conversation of those who have more than ourselves without hurting by this preference the wishes or interests of others. ¶916
• Then we should modestly use all the modes abovementioned to show our thoughts to them, and make them, if possible, believe that we take our ideas from them. ¶917
• We should never say anything with an air of authority, nor show any superiority of mind. We should avoid far-fetched expressions, expressions hard or forced, and never let the words be grander than the matter. ¶918
• It is not wrong to retain our opinions if they are reasonable, but we should yield to reason, wherever she appears and from whatever side she comes, she alone should govern our opinions, we should follow her without opposing the opinions of others, and without seeming to ignore what they say. ¶919
• It is dangerous to seek to be always the leader of the conversation, and to push a good argument too hard, when we have found one. Civility often hides half its understanding, and when it meets with an opinionated man who defends the bad side, spares him the disgrace of giving way. ¶920
• Every kind of conversation, however witty it may be, is not equally fitted for all clever persons; we should select what is to their taste and suitable to their condition, their sex, their talents, and also choose the time to say it. ¶922
• But it is given to few persons to keep this secret well. Those who lay down rules too often break them, and the safest we are able to give is to listen much, to speak little, and to say nothing that will ever give ground for regret. ¶924
• This mistake gives rise to an infinite number of falsities in the taste and in the mind. Our self-love is flattered by all that presents itself to us under the guise of good. ¶928
• A woman may like science, but all sciences are not suitable for her, and the doctrines of certain sciences never become her, and when applied by her are always false. ¶932
• We should allow reason and good sense to fix the value of things, they should determine our taste and give things the merit they deserve, and the importance it is fitting we should give them. But nearly all men are deceived in the price and in the value, and in these mistakes there is always a kind of falseness. ¶933
• There is an air which belongs to the figure and talents of each individual; we always lose it when we abandon it to assume another. ¶935
• 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. ¶942
• Some of the advantages or disadvantages that we have received from nature please in proportion as we know the air, the style, the manner, the sentiments that coincide with our condition and our appearance, and displease in the proportion they are removed from that point. ¶943
• THE LETTER R PRECEDING A REFERENCE REFERS TO THE REFLECTIONS, THE ROMAN NUMERALS REFER TO THE SUPPLEMENTS. ¶945
• Jealousy, 28, 32, 324, 336, 359, 361, 446, 503, CII. Joy, XIV. Judges, 268. Judgment, 89, 97, 248. -------- of the World, 212, 455. Justice, 78, 458, XII. ¶955
• Kindness, 14, 85. Knowledge, 106. ¶956
• Names, Great, 94. Natural goodness, 275. Natural, to be, 431. ------, always pleasing, R.VII. Nature, 53, 153, 189, 365, 404. Negotiations, 278. Novelty in study, 178. ------ in love, 274. ------ in friendship, 426. ¶959
• Obligations, 299, 317, 438. SEE Benefits and Gratitude. Obstinacy, 234, 424. -------- its cause, 265. Occasions. SEE Opportunities. Old Age, 109, 210, 418, 423, 430, 461. Old Men, 93. Openness of heart, R.1. Opinions, 13, 234, CXXIII, R.V. Opinionatedness, R.V. Opportunities, 345, 453, CV. ¶960
• Qualities, 29, 162, 397, 470, 498, R.VI, R.VII. --------, Bad, 468. --------, Good, 88, 337, 462. --------, Great, 159, 433. --------, of Mind, classified, R.II. Quarrels, 496, Quoting oneself, R.V. ¶962

НазадДальше →Книги изречений