To Find Something Pleasing in the Misfortune of Friends -

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Francois, Duc de La Rochefoucauld 1613-1680

A cynical observer in the court of the French king, Louis XIV, and a forefather of the enlightenment.

Part Three

Absence diminishes mediocre passions and increases great ones, as the wind blows out candles and fans fire.

We frequently forgive those who bore us, but cannot forgive those whom we bore.

We always like those who admire us; we do not always like those whom we admire.

Few people know how to be old.

Nothing prevents our being natural so much as the desire to appear so.

Quarrels would not last long if the fault were only on one side.

In the misfortune of our best friends we often find something that is not displeasing.