Vauvenargues

The most absurd and reckless aspirations have sometimes led to extraordinary success.

Action makes more fortunes than caution.

Prosperity makes few friends.

There are men who are happy without knowing it.

There is nothing that fear or hope does not make men believe.

Man never rises to great truths without enthusiasm.

Necessity relieves us from the embarrassment of choice.

We don't have enough time to premeditate all our actions.

If anyone accuses me of contradicting myself I reply: Because I have been wrong once or oftener I do not aspire to be always wrong.

He who knows how to suffer everything can dare everything.

Nothing but courage can guide life.

There are those who are so scrupulously afraid of doing wrong that they seldom venture to do anything.

The greatest evil which fortune can inflict on men is to endow them with small talents and great ambitions.

To achieve great things we must live as though we were never going to die.