Duc François de la Rochefoucauld
@rochefoucauld.bsky.social
This account posts maxims from various sources, but chiefly by La Rochefoucauld, the master of the genre. Posts by La R unless otherwise stated. New post every 3rd day. Run by @nowheria.bsky.social
278. What makes us often dissatisfied with those who carry out a negotiation is that they almost always abandon their friends' interests in the interests of successful negotiation. The success becomes their own, because they have the honour of accomplishing what they had undertaken.
November 17, 2025 at 6:10 PM
278. What makes us often dissatisfied with those who carry out a negotiation is that they almost always abandon their friends' interests in the interests of successful negotiation. The success becomes their own, because they have the honour of accomplishing what they had undertaken.
277. Women often think they are in love when they are not. The business of an intrigue, the excitement produced by a love affair, a natural predilection for the pleasure of being loved, & the difficulty of refusing, convince them that they are being passionate when they are merely being flirtatious.
November 14, 2025 at 7:01 PM
277. Women often think they are in love when they are not. The business of an intrigue, the excitement produced by a love affair, a natural predilection for the pleasure of being loved, & the difficulty of refusing, convince them that they are being passionate when they are merely being flirtatious.
276. Absence makes average passions decrease and great ones increase, just as wind extinguishes candles and kindles a fire.
November 11, 2025 at 12:12 PM
276. Absence makes average passions decrease and great ones increase, just as wind extinguishes candles and kindles a fire.
275. Innate goodness, which takes pride in being so sensitive, is often stifled by the least self-interest.
November 8, 2025 at 6:19 PM
275. Innate goodness, which takes pride in being so sensitive, is often stifled by the least self-interest.
274. The charm of novelty is to love what the flower is to the fruits: it gives it a lustre that is easily tarnished and never returns.
November 5, 2025 at 7:28 PM
274. The charm of novelty is to love what the flower is to the fruits: it gives it a lustre that is easily tarnished and never returns.
273. There are people who have the approval of society, though their only merits are the vices useful for the transactions of daily life.
November 2, 2025 at 6:43 PM
273. There are people who have the approval of society, though their only merits are the vices useful for the transactions of daily life.
272. Nothing should be more humbling to men who have deserved great praise than the care they still take to advertise themselves in trivial ways.
October 30, 2025 at 6:28 PM
272. Nothing should be more humbling to men who have deserved great praise than the care they still take to advertise themselves in trivial ways.
271. Youth is a continual drunkenness; it is the delirium of reason.
October 27, 2025 at 5:46 PM
271. Youth is a continual drunkenness; it is the delirium of reason.
270. Honours won are down payments for those still to be won.
October 24, 2025 at 9:31 AM
270. Honours won are down payments for those still to be won.
269. Hardly any man is clever enough to know all the evil he does.
October 21, 2025 at 9:11 AM
269. Hardly any man is clever enough to know all the evil he does.
267. Our readiness to believe evil, without investigating it adequately, results from pride and laziness. We want to find the guilty party, and we do not want to go to the trouble of investigating the crime.
October 17, 2025 at 5:49 PM
267. Our readiness to believe evil, without investigating it adequately, results from pride and laziness. We want to find the guilty party, and we do not want to go to the trouble of investigating the crime.
266. We are deceiving ourselves if we think only the violent passions,such as ambition & love,can conquer the others. Laziness, sluggish though it is,often manages to dominate them; it wrests from us all of life's plans & deeds, where it imperceptibly destroys & devours the passions & virtues alike.
October 14, 2025 at 6:30 PM
266. We are deceiving ourselves if we think only the violent passions,such as ambition & love,can conquer the others. Laziness, sluggish though it is,often manages to dominate them; it wrests from us all of life's plans & deeds, where it imperceptibly destroys & devours the passions & virtues alike.
265. Small-mindedness leads to stubbornness; it is hard for us to believe anything that goes beyond what we see.
October 11, 2025 at 11:43 AM
265. Small-mindedness leads to stubbornness; it is hard for us to believe anything that goes beyond what we see.
264. Pity is often a feeling of our own ills, prompted by the ills of other people. It is a clever way of anticipating the misfortunes that could possibly befall us: we help other people so that they will be obliged to help us when comparable circumstances arise; & the services we render them are,>>
October 8, 2025 at 11:03 AM
264. Pity is often a feeling of our own ills, prompted by the ills of other people. It is a clever way of anticipating the misfortunes that could possibly befall us: we help other people so that they will be obliged to help us when comparable circumstances arise; & the services we render them are,>>
263. What we call generosity is most often merely the vanity of giving, which we like more than the thing we are giving.
October 5, 2025 at 9:10 AM
263. What we call generosity is most often merely the vanity of giving, which we like more than the thing we are giving.
262. There is no passion so powerfully ruled by self-love as love; and we are always more willing to sacrifice the peace of our beloved, than to lose our own.
October 2, 2025 at 10:54 AM
262. There is no passion so powerfully ruled by self-love as love; and we are always more willing to sacrifice the peace of our beloved, than to lose our own.
261. The education usually bestowed on the young gives them a second dose of self-love.
September 29, 2025 at 9:19 AM
261. The education usually bestowed on the young gives them a second dose of self-love.
260. Politeness is a desire to receive it in return, and to be thought civil.
September 26, 2025 at 9:46 AM
260. Politeness is a desire to receive it in return, and to be thought civil.
259. The pleasure of love consists of loving; we are happier in the passion we feel than in that we inspire.
September 23, 2025 at 9:50 AM
259. The pleasure of love consists of loving; we are happier in the passion we feel than in that we inspire.
258. Good taste is due more to judgement than to intelligence.
September 20, 2025 at 9:36 AM
258. Good taste is due more to judgement than to intelligence.
257. Solemnity is an outward mystification devised to hid inner faults.
September 17, 2025 at 9:16 AM
257. Solemnity is an outward mystification devised to hid inner faults.
256. In all the professions each person puts on a pretended look & outward appearance to make him seem what he wants people to think him. So we may say that the world is composed only of appearances.
September 14, 2025 at 9:26 AM
256. In all the professions each person puts on a pretended look & outward appearance to make him seem what he wants people to think him. So we may say that the world is composed only of appearances.
255. Each feeling has its own special look, gesture, and tone of voice; and that interrelationship - good or bad, agreeable or disagreeable - is what makes people pleasant or unpleasant.
September 12, 2025 at 9:21 AM
255. Each feeling has its own special look, gesture, and tone of voice; and that interrelationship - good or bad, agreeable or disagreeable - is what makes people pleasant or unpleasant.
254. Humility is often merely a pretence of submissiveness, which we use to make other people to submit to us. It is an artifice by which pride debases itself in order to exalt itself; & though it can transform itself in thousands of ways >>
September 8, 2025 at 9:40 AM
254. Humility is often merely a pretence of submissiveness, which we use to make other people to submit to us. It is an artifice by which pride debases itself in order to exalt itself; & though it can transform itself in thousands of ways >>
253. Self-interest puts to work all kinds of virtues and vices.
September 5, 2025 at 9:13 AM
253. Self-interest puts to work all kinds of virtues and vices.