A selection of quotes from La Rochefoucauld (1613 - 1680), found here.

We rarely ever perceive others as sensible, except for those who agree with us.

In order to punish man for his original sin, God has made him so fond of his self-love that he is tormented by it in all the actions of his life.

When our hatred is too keen, it places us beneath those we hate.

If we take the liberty to dwell on their faults, we cannot long preserve the feelings we should hold towards our friends and benefactors.

We are so accustomed to disguising ourselves to others that we end up becoming disguised to ourselves

We concern ourselves less with becoming happy than making others believe we are.

Nothing prevents our being natural as much as our desire to seem so.

Sincerity is an openness of heart; we find it in very few people. What we usually see is only an artful dissimulation to win the confidence of others.

Men would not live long in society were they not the dupes of each other.

Self love is more cunning than the most cunning man in the world.

It is as easy to unknowingly deceive yourself as to deceive others.

A man often believes himself leader when he is led; as his mind endeavors to reach one goal, his heart insensibly drags him towards another.

Reason alone is insufficient to make us enthusiastic in any matter.

Neither the sun nor death can be looked at steadily.

Jealousy is in a manner just and reasonable, as it tends to preserve a good which belongs, or which we believe belongs to us. Envy, on the other hand, is a fury that cannot endure the happiness of others.

Most things are praised or condemned only because it is fashionable to praise or condemn them.

The desire to appear clever often prevents our being so.

He who thinks he can find in himself the means of doing without others is much mistaken; but he who thinks that others cannot do without him is still more mistaken.

Intrepidity is an extraordinary strength of soul that raises it above the troubles, disorders, and emotions that the sight of great perils can arouse in it. By this strength, heroes maintain a calm aspect and preserve their reason and liberty in the most surprising and terrible predicaments.

Lucky people are often bad hands at correcting their faults; they believe that they are right when luck backs up their vice or folly.

To men who have deserved high praise, nothing should be more humbling than the lengths to which they will still go to get credit for petty things.

In great matters we should not try so much to create opportunities as to utilize those that offer themselves.

The mind attaches itself by idleness and habit to whatever is easy or pleasant. This habit always places bounds to our knowledge, and no one has ever yet taken the pains to enlarge and expand his mind to the full extent of its capacities.

A clever man ought to so regulate his interests that each will fall in due order. Our greediness so often troubles us, making us run after so many things at the same time, that while we too eagerly look after the least, we miss the greatest.

Before strongly desiring anything, we should examine the happiness of those who already posses it.

A true friend is the greatest of all goods, and that of which we think least of acquiring.