Luc De Clapiers Quotes & Sayings

Man never rises to great truths without enthusiasm. — Luc De Clapiers

The common excuse for those bringing misfortune on others is that they desire their good. — Luc De Clapiers

The idle always have a mind to do something. — Luc De Clapiers

Hatred is keener than friendship, less keen than love. — Luc De Clapiers

A man can hardly be said to have made a fortune if he does not know how to enjoy it. — Luc De Clapiers

Peace renders nations happier and men weaker. — Luc De Clapiers

When we are sick our virtues and our vices are in abeyance. — Luc De Clapiers

The favorites of fortune or of fame topple from their pedestals before our eyes without diverting us from ambition. — Luc De Clapiers

The things we know best are the things we haven't been taught. — Luc De Clapiers

Indolence is the sleep of the mind. — Luc De Clapiers

The light of the dawn is not so sweet as the first glimpses of fame. — Luc De Clapiers

Consciousness of our strength increases it. — Luc De Clapiers

The falsest of all philosophies is that which, under the pretext of delivering men from the embarrassment of their passions, counsels idleness and the abandonment and neglect of themselves. — Luc De Clapiers

Whatever affection we have for our friends or relations, the happiness of others never suffices for our own. — Luc De Clapiers

The greatest evil that fortune can bring to men is to endow them with feeble resources and yet to make them ambitious. — Luc De Clapiers

Activity makes more men's fortunes than cautiousness. — Luc De Clapiers

Men sometimes feel injured by praise because it assigns a limit to their merit; few people are modest enough not to take offense that one appreciates them. — Luc De Clapiers

Servitude degrades people to such a point that they come to like it. — Luc De Clapiers

Necessity embitters the evils which it cannot cure. — Luc De Clapiers

He who seeks fame by the practice of virtue asks only for what he deserves. — Luc De Clapiers

When we are convinced of some great truths, and feel our convictions keenly, we must not fear to express it, although others have said it before us. Every thought is new when an author expresses it in a manner peculiar to himself. — Luc De Clapiers

Hatred and dishonesty generally arises from fear of being deceived. — Luc De Clapiers

Despair exaggerates not only our misery but also our weakness. — Luc De Clapiers

We should expect the best and the worst of mankind, as from the weather. — Luc De Clapiers

Persevere in the fight, struggle on, do not let go, think magnanimously of man and life, for man is good and life is affluent and fruitful. — Luc De Clapiers

It is a great sign of mediocrity to praise always moderately. — Luc De Clapiers

When an idea is not robust enough to stand expression in simple terms, it is a sign that it should be rejected. — Luc De Clapiers

All men are born truthful and die liars. — Luc De Clapiers

You must maintain strength of body in order to preserve strength of mind. — Luc De Clapiers

It is difficult to esteem a man as highly as he would wish. — Luc De Clapiers

We must not be timid from a fear of committing faults: the greatest fault of all is to deprive oneself of experience. — Luc De Clapiers

None are more liable to mistakes than those who act only on second thoughts. — Luc De Clapiers

Reason and emotion counsel and supplement each other. Whoever heeds only the one, and puts aside the other, recklessly deprives himself of a portion of the aid granted us for the regulation of our conduct. — Luc De Clapiers

Neither the gifts nor the blows of fortune equal those of nature. — Luc De Clapiers

Excessive distrust is not less hurtfJul than its opposite. Most men become useless to him who is unwilling to risk being deceived. — Luc De Clapiers

If it is true that vice can never be done away with, the science of government consists of making it contribute to the public good. — Luc De Clapiers

Our errors and our controversies, in the sphere of morality, arise sometimes from looking on men as though they could be altogether bad, or altogether good. — Luc De Clapiers

It is good to be firm by temperament and pliant by reflection. — Luc De Clapiers

Constancy is the chimera of love. — Luc De Clapiers

There are men who are happy without knowing it. — Luc De Clapiers

Reason deceives us more often than does nature. — Luc De Clapiers

The counsels of the old, like the winter sun, shine, but give no heat. — Luc De Clapiers

Simple truths are a relief from grand speculations. — Luc De Clapiers

And where, on earth, dwell hope and truth? In childhood's uncorrupted heart; Alas! too soon to guileless youth The world doth its dark code impart! — Luc De Clapiers

We are forced to respect the gifts of nature, which study and fortune cannot give. — Luc De Clapiers

Obscurity is the realm of error. — Luc De Clapiers

The art of pleasing is the art of deception. — Luc De Clapiers

The tempests of youth are mingled with days of brilliant sunshine. — Luc De Clapiers

We are almost always guilty of the hate we encounter. — Luc De Clapiers

We are so presumptuous that we think we can separate our personal interest from that of humanity, and slander mankind without compromising ourselves. — Luc De Clapiers

Vice foments war; it is virtue which actually fights. If there were no virtue, we would live in peace forever. — Luc De Clapiers

Prosperity makes few friends. — Luc De Clapiers

We must expect everything and fear everything from time and from men. — Luc De Clapiers

No one is more liable to make mistakes than the man who acts only on reflection. — Luc De Clapiers

Great men, like nature, use simple language. — Luc De Clapiers

In order to do great things, it is necessary to live as if one was never to die. — Luc De Clapiers

Few people are modest enough to be estimated at their true worth. — Luc De Clapiers

Those who can bear all can dare all. — Luc De Clapiers

He who knows how to suffer everything can dare everything. — Luc De Clapiers

One promises much, to avoid giving little. — Luc De Clapiers

When a thought is too weak to be expressed simply, it should be rejected. — Luc De Clapiers

There does not exist a man sufficiently intelligent never to be tiresome. — Luc De Clapiers

The mind of man is more intuitive than logical, and comprehends more than it can coordinate. — Luc De Clapiers

Conscience, the organ of feeling which dominates us and of the opinions which rule us, is presumptuous in the strong, timid in the weak and unfortunate, uneasy in the undecided. — Luc De Clapiers

The wicked are always surprised to find ability in the good. — Luc De Clapiers

It cannot be a vice in men to be sensible of their strength. — Luc De Clapiers

Patience is the art of hoping. — Luc De Clapiers

When we feel that we lack whatever is needed to secure someone else's esteem, we are very close to hating him — Luc De Clapiers

Truth is not so threadbare as speech, because fewer people can make use of it. — Luc De Clapiers

If anyone accuses me of contradicting myself, I shall reply; I have been wrong once or more often, however I do not aspire to be always wrong. — Luc De Clapiers

The maxims of men reveal their characters. — Luc De Clapiers

It is sometimes easier to form a party than to attain by degrees the head of a party already formed. — Luc De Clapiers

Sometimes a lengthened period of prosperity melts away in a moment; just as the heat of summer flies before a day of tempest. — Luc De Clapiers

Hope deceives more men than cunning does. — Luc De Clapiers

Consciousness of our powers augments them. — Luc De Clapiers

You must rouse into people's consciousness their own prudence and strength, if you want to raise their character. — Luc De Clapiers

Great men in teaching weak men to reflect have set them on the road to error. — Luc De Clapiers

More are taken in by hope than by cunning. — Luc De Clapiers

I do not approve the maxim which desires a man to know a little of everything. Superficial knowledge, knowledge without principles, is almost always useless and sometimes harmful knowledge. — Luc De Clapiers

The best things are the most common. — Luc De Clapiers

The most absurd and reckless aspirations have sometimes led to extraordinary success. — Luc De Clapiers

Great men undertake great things because they are great; fools, because they think them easy. — Luc De Clapiers

In a way, the main fault of all books is that they are too long. — Luc De Clapiers

To withdraw ourselves from the law of the strong, we have found ourselves obliged to submit to justice. Justice or might, we must choose between these two masters. — Luc De Clapiers

Wit does not take the place of knowledge. — Luc De Clapiers

We are very wrong to think that some fault or other can exclude virtue, or to consider the alliance of good and evil as a monstrosity or an enigma. — Luc De Clapiers

Lazy people always intend to start doing something. — Luc De Clapiers

If children had teachers for judgment and eloquence just as they have for languages, if their memory was exercised less than their energy or their natural genius, if instead of deadening their vivacity of mind we tried to elevate the free scope and impulse of their souls, what might not result from a fine disposition? As it is, we forget that courage, or love of truth and glory are the virtues that matter most in youth; and our one endeavour is to subdue our children's spirits, in order to teach them that dependence and suppleness are the first laws of success in life. — Luc De Clapiers

Wicked people are always surprised to find ability in those that are good. — Luc De Clapiers

Glory fills the world with virtue, and, like a beneficent sun, covers the whole earth with flowers and with fruits. — Luc De Clapiers

We often quarrel with the unfortunate to get rid of pitying them. — Luc De Clapiers

It is unjust to exact that men shall do out of deference to our advice what they have no desire to do for themselves. — Luc De Clapiers

Men despise great projects when they do not feel themselves capable of great successes. — Luc De Clapiers

The fruit derived from labor is the sweetest of pleasures. — Luc De Clapiers

The greatest achievement of the human spirit is to live up to one's opportunities and make the most of one's resources. — Luc De Clapiers

Faith is the consolation of the wretched and the terror of the happy. — Luc De Clapiers

Some are born to invent, others to embellish; but the gilder attracts more attention than the architect. — Luc De Clapiers

The young suffer less from their own errors than from the cautiousness of the old. — Luc De Clapiers

Obscurity is the kingdom of error. — Luc De Clapiers

In order to protect himself from force, man was obliged to submit to justice. Justice or force: he was compelled to choose between the two masters, so little are we made to be independent. — Luc De Clapiers