More maxims of François VI, Duc de La Rochefoucauld (1613–1680):

• “We always love those who admire us; but we don’t always love those whom we admire.”
• “There are people who would never have been in love, if they had never heard talk of Love.”
• “The Generality of People judge of Men by their Reputation, or Fortune.”
• “Men would not live long in Society, if they were not the mutual Dupes of one another.”
• “Titles, instead of exalting, debase those who don’t act up to them.”
• “Prosperity is a stronger Trial of Virtue than Adversity.”
• “Weak People can’t be sincere.”
• “‘Tis more difficult to be faithful to a Mistress when on good Terms with her, than when on bad.”
• “‘Tis not so dangerous to do Ill to most Men as to do them too much Good.”
• “A Man often imagines he acts, when he is acted upon; and while his Mind aims at one thing, his Heart insensibly gravitates towards another.”
• “When great Men suffer themselves to be subdued by the Length of their Misfortunes, they discover that the Strength of their Ambition, not of their Understanding, was what supported them; and that, bating a little Vanity, Heroes are just like other Men.”
• “Cunning and Treachery proceed from Want of Capacity.”
• “If we took as much Pains to be what we ought, as we do to deceive others by disguising what we are; we might appear as we are, without being at the Trouble of any Disguise.”

And “‘Tis a Mistake to imagine that only the violent Passions, such as Ambition and Love, can triumph over the rest. Laziness, languid as it is, often masters them all; she indeed influences all our Designs and Actions, and insensibly consumes and destroys both the Passions and the Virtues.”