French philosopher and moralist (1645-1696)
The sweetest music is the sound of the voice of the woman we love.
JEAN DE LA BRUYÈRE
"Of Women", Les Caractères
It is fortunate to be of high birth, but it is no less so to be of such character that people do not care to know whether you are or are not.
JEAN DE LA BRUYÈRE
"Of Personal Merit", Les Caractères
A man who knows how to make good bargains or finds his money increase in his coffers, thinks presently that he has a good deal of brains and is almost fit to be a statesman.
JEAN DE LA BRUYÈRE
"Of the Gifts of Fortune", Les Caractères
He must be a dull Fellow indeed, whom neither Love, Malice, nor Necessity, can inspire with Wit.
JEAN DE LA BRUYERE
The Characters or Manners of the Present Age
To how many girls has a great beauty been of no other use but to make them expect a large fortune!
JEAN DE LA BRUYÈRE
"Of Women", Les Caractères
Among some people arrogance supplies the place of grandeur, inhumanity of decision, and roguery of intelligence.
JEAN DE LA BRUYÈRE
"Of Mankind", Les Caractères
When we lavish our money we rob our heir; when we merely save it we rob ourselves.
JEAN DE LA BRUYÈRE
"Of the Gifts of Fortune", Les Caractères
He who knows how to wait for what he desires does not feel very desperate if he fails in obtaining it; and he, on the contrary, who is very impatient in procuring a certain thing, takes so much pains about it, that, even when he is successful, he does not think himself sufficiently rewarded.
JEAN DE LA BRUYÈRE
"Of the Affections", Les Caractères
Marriage, it seems, confines every man to his proper rank.
JEAN DE LA BRUYÈRE
"Of Personal Merit", Les Caractères
It is more or less rude to scorn indiscriminately all kinds of praise; we ought to be proud of that which comes from honest men, who praise sincerely those things in us which are really commendable.
JEAN DE LA BRUYÈRE
"Of Society and of Conversation", Les Caractères
We perceive when love begins and when it declines by our perplexity when alone.
JEAN DE LA BRUYÈRE
"Of the Affections", Les Caractères
We should like those whom we love to receive all their happiness, or, if this were impossible, all their unhappiness from our hands.
JEAN DE LA BRUYÈRE
"Of the Affections", Les Caractères
Banter is often a proof of want of intelligence.
JEAN DE LA BRUYÈRE
"Of Society and of Conversation", Les Caractères
There is a pleasure in meeting the glance of a person whom we have lately laid under some obligations.
JEAN DE LA BRUYÈRE
"Of the Affections", Les Caractères
The most accomplished literary work would be reduced to nothing by carping criticism, if the author would listen to all critics and allow every one to erase the passage which pleases him the least.
JEAN DE LA BRUYÈRE
"Of Works of the Mind", Les Caractères
There are only two ways by which to rise in this world, either by one's own industry or by the stupidity of others.
JEAN DE LA BRUYERE
Les Characteres
From time to time there appear on the face of the earth men of rare and consummate excellence, who dazzle us by their virtue, and whose outstanding qualities shed a stupendous light. Like those extraordinary stars of whose origins we are ignorant, and of whose fate, once they have vanished, we know even less, such men have neither forebears nor descendants: they are the whole of their race.
JEAN DE LA BRUYÈRE
"Of Personal Merit", Les Caractères
Whatever is certain in death is slightly alleviated by what is not so infallible; the time when it shall happen is undefined, but it is more or less connected with the infinite, and what we call eternity.
JEAN DE LA BRUYÈRE
"Of Mankind", Les Caractères
There are some sordid minds, formed of slime and filth, to whom interest and gain are what glory and virtue are to superior souls; they feel no other pleasure but to acquire money.
JEAN DE LA BRUYÈRE
Les Caractères
A man must be completely wanting in intelligence if he does not show it when actuated by love, malice, or necessity.
JEAN DE LA BRUYÈRE
"Of the Affections", Les Caractères