Jean de la Bruyere

Children have neither a past nor a future. Thus they enjoy the present, which seldom happens to us.

The wise person often shuns society for fear of being bored.

All men's misfortunes spring from their hatred of being alone.

All of our unhappiness comes from our inability to be alone.

Men blush less for their crimes than for their weaknesses and vanity.

It is boorish to live ungraciously: the giving is the hardest part what does it cost to add a smile?

The regeneration of society is the regeneration of society by individual education.

It is a sad thing when men have neither the wit to speak well nor the judgment to hold their tongues.

Time makes friendship stronger, but love weaker.

The first day one is a guest, the second a burden, and the third a pest.

Marriage, it seems, confines every man to his proper rank.

Avoid lawsuits beyond all things; they pervert your conscience, impair your health, and dissipate your property.

A position of eminence makes a great person greater and a small person less.

We should keep silent about those in power; to speak well of them almost implies flattery; to speak ill of them while they are alive is dangerous, and when they are dead is cowardly.

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

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.

There are only three events in a man's life; birth, life, and death; he is not conscious of being born, he dies in pain, and he forgets to live.

There is no road too long to the man who advances deliberately and without undue haste there are no honors too distant to the man who prepares himself for them with patience.