Repentance is not so much remorse for what we have done as the fear of the consequences.
Francois de La Rochefoucauld

Ridicule dishonors a man more than dishonor does.
Francois de La Rochefoucauld

Self-interest makes some people blind, and others sharp-sighted.
Francois de La Rochefoucauld

Silence is the safest course for any man to adopt who distrust himself.
Francois de La Rochefoucauld

Some accidents there are in life that a little folly is necessary to help us out of.
Francois de La Rochefoucauld

Some counterfeits reproduce so very well the truth that it would be a flaw of judgment not to be deceived by them.
Francois de La Rochefoucauld

Some people displease with merit, and others' very faults and defects are pleasing.
Francois de La Rochefoucauld

Taste may change, but inclination never.
Francois de La Rochefoucauld

That good disposition which boasts of being most tender is often stifled by the least urging of self-interest.
Francois de La Rochefoucauld

The accent of a man's native country remains in his mind and his heart, as it does in his speech.
Francois de La Rochefoucauld

The accent of one's birthplace remains in the mind and in the heart as in one's speech.
Francois de La Rochefoucauld

The defects and faults of the mind are like wounds in the body; after all imaginable care has been taken to heal them up, still there will be a scar left behind, and they are in continual danger of breaking the skin and bursting out again.
Francois de La Rochefoucauld

The defects of the mind, like those of the face, grow worse with age.
Francois de La Rochefoucauld

The desire of talking of ourselves, and showing those faults we do not mind having seen, makes up a good part of our sincerity.
Francois de La Rochefoucauld

The desire to seem clever often keeps us from being so.
Francois de La Rochefoucauld

The first lover is kept a long while, when no offer is made of a second.
Francois de La Rochefoucauld

The force we use on ourselves, to prevent ourselves from loving, is often more cruel than the severest treatment at the hands of one loved.
Francois de La Rochefoucauld

The generality of virtuous women are like hidden treasures, they are safe only because nobody has sought after them.
Francois de La Rochefoucauld

The greatest part of intimate confidences proceed from a desire either to be pitied or admired.
Francois de La Rochefoucauld

The happiness and misery of men depend no less on temper than fortune.
Francois de La Rochefoucauld