Jean de La Bruyère was a French moralist and essayist of the 17th century. He was a member of the French Academy and is best known for his work Les Caractères de Théophraste, a collection of essays on human nature. His works are considered to be a cornerstone of French literary classicism and are still studied and referenced today.
What is the most famous quote by Jean De La Bruyere ?
Life is a tragedy for those who feel, and a comedy for those who think.
— Jean De La Bruyere
What can you learn from Jean De La Bruyere (Life Lessons)
- Jean De La Bruyere believed that life should be lived with moderation and balance, and that one should strive to be content with what they have.
- He also encouraged people to be honest and humble, and to accept criticism gracefully.
- Lastly, he taught that one should strive to be kind and generous, and to always be mindful of how their actions affect others.
The most useful Jean De La Bruyere quotes that are glad to read
Following is a list of the best Jean De La Bruyere quotes, including various Jean De La Bruyere inspirational quotes, and other famous sayings by Jean De La Bruyere.
The sweetest of all sounds is that of the voice of the woman we love.
Generosity lies less in giving much than in giving at the right moment.
A vain man finds it wise to speak good or ill of himself; a modest man does not talk of himself.
No road is to long for him who advances slowly and does not hurry and no attainment is beyond his reach who equips himself with patience to achieve it
We are more sociable, and get on better with people by the heart than the intellect.
Courtly manners are contagious; they are caught at Versailles.
Out of difficulties grow miracles.
Children are contemptuous, haughty, irritable, envious, sneaky, selfish, lazy, flighty, timid, liars and hypocrites, quick to laugh and cry, extreme in expressing joy and sorrow, especially about trifles, they'll do anything to avoid pain but they enjoy inflicting it: little men already.
Satirical quotes by Jean De La Bruyere
There is as much trickery required to grow rich by a stupid book as there is folly in buying it.
A prince wants only the pleasure of private life to complete his happiness.
Two persons cannot long be friends if they cannot forgive each other's little failings.
Incivility is not a Vice of the Soul, but the effect of several Vices;
of Vanity, Ignorance of Duty, Laziness, Stupidity, Distraction, Contempt of others, and Jealousy.
At the beginning and at the end of love, the two lovers are embarrassed to find themselves alone.
A person's worth in this world is estimated according to the value he puts on himself.
All of our unhappiness comes from our inability to be alone.
When a work lifts your spirits and inspires bold and noble thoughts in you, do not look for any other standard to judge by: the work is good, the product of a master craftsman.
Quotations by Jean De La Bruyere that are observant and cynical
Caprice in woman is the antidote to beauty.
There are certain things in which mediocrity is intolerable: poetry, music, painting, public eloquence. What torture it is to hear a frigid speech being pompously declaimed, or second-rate verse spoken with all a bad poet's bombast!
Grief that is dazed and speechless is out of fashion: the modern woman mourns her husband loudly and tells you the whole story of his death, which distresses her so much that she forgets not the slightest detail about it.
The most exquisite pleasure is giving pleasure to others.
The rarest things in the world, next to a spirit of discernment, are diamonds and pearls. [Fr., Apres l'esprit de discernement, ce qu'il y a au monde de plus rare, ce sont les diamants et les perles.]
The pleasure we feel in criticizing robs us from being moved by very beautiful things.
A bachelor's life is a fine breakfast, a flat lunch, and a miserable dinner.
A man can keep a secret better than his own. A woman her own better than others.
A person's worth in this world is estimated according to the value they put on themselves.
We can recognize the dawn and the decline of love by the uneasiness we feel when alone together.
Children have neither past nor future; they enjoy the present, which very few of us do.
We seldom repent talking little, but very often talking too much.
Those who make the worst use of their time are the first to complain of its shortness.
A slave has but one master. An ambition man, has as many as there are people who helped him get his fortune.
The first day one is a guest, the second a burden, and the third a pest.
A coxcomb is one whom simpletons believe to be a man of merit.
There are some men who turn a deaf ear to reason and good advice, and willfully go wrong for fear of being controlled.
Politeness makes one appear outwardly as they should be within.
A blockhead cannot come in, nor go away, nor sit, nor rise, nor stand, like a man of sense.
A fool is one whom simpletons believe to be a man on merit. [Fr., Un fat celui que les sots croient un homme de merite.]
Mockery is often the result of a poverty of wit.
A man is thirty years old before he has any settled thoughts of his fortune; it is not completed before fifty. He falls to building in his old age, and dies by the time his house is in a condition to be painted and glazed.
A man starts upon a sudden, takes Pen, Ink, and Paper, and without ever having had a thought of it before, resolves within himself he will write a Book; he has no Talent at Writing, but he wants fifty Guineas.
Children have neither a past nor a future. Thus they enjoy the present -- which seldom happens to us.
All men's misfortunes spring from their hatred of being alone.
A man of moderate Understanding, thinks he writes divinely: A man of good Understanding, thinks he writes reasonably.
This great misfortune -- to be incapable of solitude.
The wise person often shuns society for fear of being bored.
That man is good who does good to others; if he suffers on account of the good he does, he is very good; if he suffers at the hands of those to whom he has done good, then his goodness is so great that it could be enhanced only by greater sufferings; and if he should die at their hands, his virtue can go no further: it is heroic, it is perfect.
The beginning and the end of love are both marked by embarrassment when the two find themselves alone. [Fr., Le commencement et le declin de l'amour se font sentir par l'embarras ou l'on est de se trouver seuls.]
It's motive alone which gives character to the actions of men.
If it be true that a man is rich who wants nothing, a wise man is a very rich man.
We are valued in this world at the rate we desire to be valued.