Jean de la Bruyere Quotes - Page 14

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• The same common sense which makes an author write good things, makes him dread they are not good enough to deserve reading.

  Jean de la Bruyere

  Reading, Writing, Common Sense

  4 Copy quote

• Genius and great abilities are often wanting; sometimes, only opportunities. Some deserve praise for what they have done; others for what they would have done.

  Jean de la Bruyere

  Opportunity, Genius, Done

  5 Copy quote

• There are certain things in which mediocrity is not to be endured, such as poetry, music, painting, public speaking.

  Jean de la Bruyere

  Mediocrity, Painting, Public Speaking

  7 Copy quote

• The passion of hatred is so long lived and so obstinate a malady that the surest sign of death in a sick person is their desire for reconciliation.

  Jean de la Bruyere

  Death, Hate, Passion

  7 Copy quote

• What is certain in death is somewhat softened by what is uncertain; it is an indefiniteness in the time, which holds a certain relation to the infinite, and what is called eternity.

  Jean de la Bruyere

  Death, Infinite, Eternity

  7 Copy quote

• A man who is free and unmarried, if he has some intelligence, can rise above his fortune, mingle in society and meet the best people on an equal footing. This is harder for a married man: marriage, it seems, confines every man to his proper rank.

  Jean de la Bruyere

  Wedding, Men, Seems

  "Of Personal Merit". "Characters", Book by Jean De La Bruyère, www.ourcivilisation.com. 1688.

  4 Copy quote

• We should laugh before being happy, for fear of dying without having laughed.

  Jean de la Bruyere

  Happiness, Happy, Laughing

  "Of the Heart". "Characters", Book by Jean De La Bruyère, www.ourcivilisation.com. 1688.

  8 Copy quote

• The duty of a judge is to administer justice, but his practice is to delay it

  Jean de la Bruyere

  Practice, Justice, Judging

  4 Copy quote

• There is nothing which continues longer than a moderate fortune; nothing of which one sees sooner the end than a large fortune.

  Jean de la Bruyere

  Ends, Fortune, Moderates

  7 Copy quote

• Men make the best friends.

  Jean de la Bruyere

  Friends, Men

  7 Copy quote

• Eminent station makes great men more great, and little ones less.

  Jean de la Bruyere

  Men, Littles, Great Men

  4 Copy quote

• The opposite of what is noised about concerning men and things is often the truth.
  [Fr., Le contraire des bruits qui courent des affaires ou des personnes est souvent la verite.]

  Jean de la Bruyere

  Truth, Men, Opposites

  4 Copy quote

• A vain man finds his account in speaking good or evil of himself.

  Jean de la Bruyere

  Men, Vanity, Evil

  8 Copy quote

• There are some who speak one moment before they think

  Jean de la Bruyere

  Thinking, Speak, Moments

  4 Copy quote

• I never have wit until I am below stairs.
  [Fr., Je n'ai jamais d'esprit qu'au bas de l'escalier.]

  Jean de la Bruyere

  Stairs, Wit

  10 Copy quote

• The best thing next to wit is a consciousness that it is not in us; without wit, a man might then know how to behave himself, so as not to appear to be a fool or a coxcomb.

  Jean de la Bruyere

  Men, Might, Next

  7 Copy quote

• Every hour in itself, as it respects us in particular, is the only one we can call our own.

  Jean de la Bruyere

  Time, Hours, Particular

  4 Copy quote

• A good author, and one who writes carefully, often discovers that the expression of which he has been in search without being able to discover it, and which he has at last found, is that which was the most simple, the most natural, and which seems as if it ought to have presented itself at once, without effort, to the mind.

  Jean de la Bruyere

  Writing, Simple, Expression

  4 Copy quote

• To forget someone means to think of him.

  Jean de la Bruyere

  Mean, Thinking, Forget

  6 Copy quote

• A man may have intelligence enough to excel in a particular thing and lecture on it, and yet not have sense enough to know he ought to be silent on some other subject of which he has but a slight knowledge; if such an illustrious man ventures beyond the bounds of his capacity, he loses his way and talks like a fool.

  Jean de la Bruyere

  Men, May, Venture

  4 Copy quote

• We can recognize the dawn and the decline of love by the uneasiness we feel when alone together.

  Jean de la Bruyere

  Love, Life, Aggravation

  "Of The Heart". "Characters", Book by Jean De La Bruyère, www.ourcivilisation.com. 1688.

  20 Copy quote

• Eloquence may be found in conversations and in all kinds of writings; it is rarely found when looked for, and sometimes discovered where it is least expected.

  Jean de la Bruyere

  Writing, May, Kind

  "The Characters", Chapter I' 55, 1688.

  6 Copy quote

• Physiognomy is not a guide that has been given us by which to judge of the character of men: it may only serve us for conjecture.
  [Fr., La physionomie n'est pas une regle qui nous soit donnee pour juger des hommes; elle nous peut servir de conjecture.]

  Jean de la Bruyere

  Character, Men, Judging

  "Les Caractères", XII, as quoted in Hoyt's New Cyclopedia Of Practical Quotations (1922), p. 97-106,

  4 Copy quote

• It takes talent to please the people in a sermon by a flowery style, a cheerful ethic, brilliant sallies and lively descriptions; but such a talent is inadequate. A better sort of talent neglects these extraneous ornaments, unworthy to be used in the service of the Gospel: such a preacher's sermon will be simple, strong and Christian.

  Jean de la Bruyere

  Christian, People, Style

  "Of The Pulpit". "Characters", Book by Jean De La Bruyère, www.ourcivilisation.com. 1688.

  6 Copy quote

• There is a pleasure in meeting the glance of a person whom we have lately laid under some obligations.

  Jean de la Bruyere

  Pleasure, Glances, Obligation

  4 Copy quote

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