Francois de La Rochefoucauld

It is not enough to have great qualities; We should also have the management of them. ”

Good advice is something a man gives when he is too old to set a bad example. ”

Nothing is so contagious as example; and we never do any great good or evil which does not produce its like. ”

However glorious an action in itself, it ought not to pass for great if it be not the effect of wisdom and intention. ”

We should often blush for our very best actions, if the world did but see all the motives upon which they were done. ”

Perfect courage is to do without witnesses what one would be capable of doing with the world looking on. ”

If it were not for the company of fools, a witty man would often be greatly at a loss. ”

Virtue would go far if vanity did not keep it company. ”

The principal point of cleverness is to know how to value things just as they deserve. ”

Being a blockhead is sometimes the best security against being cheated by a man of wit. ”