Les Caractères
book by Jean de La Bruyère
Les Caractères or Characters is a collection of satirical essays written by French philosopher Jean de La Bruyère. It was published in 1688.
Quotes
editas translated by H. Van Laun (London: 1885)
- Il faut chercher seulement à penser et à parler juste, sans vouloir amener les autres à notre goût et à nos sentiments; c’est une trop grande entreprise.
- We should only endeavor to think and speak correctly ourselves, without wishing to bring others over to our taste and opinions; this would be too great an undertaking.
- “Of Works of the Mind,” #2
- We should only endeavor to think and speak correctly ourselves, without wishing to bring others over to our taste and opinions; this would be too great an undertaking.
- What is the reason that we laugh so freely in a theatre but are ashamed to weep? ... It is not thought odd to hear a whole theatre ring with laughter at some passage of a comedy, but, on the contrary, it implies that it was funny, and very naturally performed; ... the natural result of lofty tragedy should be to make us all weep without concealment and publicly.
- “Of Works of the Mind,” #50
- La gloire ou le mérite de certains hommes est de bien écrire; et de quelques autres, c’est de n’écrire point.
- It is the glory and the merit of some men to write well, and of others not to write at all.
- “Of Works of the Mind,” #59
- It is the glory and the merit of some men to write well, and of others not to write at all.
- Il y a des esprits, si je l’ose dire, inférieurs et subalternes, qui ne semblent faits que pour être le recueil, le registre, ou le magasin de toutes les productions des autres génies: ils sont plagiaires, traducteurs, compilateurs; ils ne pensent point, ils disent ce que les auteurs ont pensé; et comme le choix des pensées est invention, ils l’ont mauvais, peu juste, et qui les détermine plutôt à rapporter beaucoup de choses, que d’excellentes choses; ils n’ont rien d’original et qui soit à eux; ils ne savent que ce qu’ils ont appris, et ils n’apprennent que ce que tout le monde veut bien ignorer, une science aride, dénuée d’agrément et d’utilité, qui ne tombe point dans la conversation, qui est hors de commerce, semblable à une monnaie qui n’a point de cours: on est tout à la fois étonné de leur lecture et ennuyé de leur entretien ou de leurs ouvrages. Ce sont ceux que les grands et le vulgaire confondent avec les savants, et que les sages renvoient au pédantisme.
- There are certain inferior or second-rate minds, who seem only fit to become the receptacle, register, or storehouse of all the productions of other talents; they are plagiarists, translators, compilers; they never think, but tell you what other authors have thought; and as a selection of thoughts requires some inventive powers, theirs is ill-made and inaccurate, which induces them rather to make it large than excellent. They have no originality, and possess nothing of their own; they only know what they have learned, and only learn what the rest of the world does not wish to know; a useless and dry science, without any charm or profit, unfit for conversation, nor suitable to intercourse, like a coin which has no currency. We are astonished when we read them, as well as tired out by their conversation or their works. The nobility and the common herd mistake them for men of learning, but intelligent men rank them with pedants.
- “Of Works of the Mind,” #62
- There are certain inferior or second-rate minds, who seem only fit to become the receptacle, register, or storehouse of all the productions of other talents; they are plagiarists, translators, compilers; they never think, but tell you what other authors have thought; and as a selection of thoughts requires some inventive powers, theirs is ill-made and inaccurate, which induces them rather to make it large than excellent. They have no originality, and possess nothing of their own; they only know what they have learned, and only learn what the rest of the world does not wish to know; a useless and dry science, without any charm or profit, unfit for conversation, nor suitable to intercourse, like a coin which has no currency. We are astonished when we read them, as well as tired out by their conversation or their works. The nobility and the common herd mistake them for men of learning, but intelligent men rank them with pedants.
- Je conseille à un auteur né copiste, et qui a l’extrême modestie de travailler d’après quelqu’un, de ne se choisir pour exemplaires que ces sortes d’ouvrages où il entre de l’esprit, de l’imagination, ou même de l’érudition: s’il n’atteint pas ses originaux, du moins il en approche, et il se fait lire. Il doit au contraire éviter comme un écueil de vouloir imiter ceux qui écrivent par humeur, que le cœur fait parler, à qui il inspire les termes et les figures, et qui tirent, pour ainsi dire, de leurs entrailles tout ce qu’ils expriment sur le papier: dangereux modèles et tout propres à faire tomber dans le froid, dans le bas et dans le ridicule ceux qui s’ingèrent de les suivre. En effet, je rirais d’un homme qui voudrait sérieusement parler mon ton de voix, ou me ressembler de visage.
- I would advise an author who can only imitate, and who is modest enough to tread in the footsteps of other men, to choose for his models writings that are full of intelligence, imagination, or even learning: if he does not come up to his originals, he may at least come somewhat near them, and be read. He ought, on the contrary, to avoid, as a rock ahead, the imitation of those authors who have a natural inclination for writing, employ phrases and figures of speech which spring from the heart, and who draw, if I may say so, from their inmost feelings all they express on paper. They are dangerous models, and induce those who endeavor to follow them to adopt a cold, vulgar, and ridiculous style.
- “Of Works of the Mind,” #64
- I would advise an author who can only imitate, and who is modest enough to tread in the footsteps of other men, to choose for his models writings that are full of intelligence, imagination, or even learning: if he does not come up to his originals, he may at least come somewhat near them, and be read. He ought, on the contrary, to avoid, as a rock ahead, the imitation of those authors who have a natural inclination for writing, employ phrases and figures of speech which spring from the heart, and who draw, if I may say so, from their inmost feelings all they express on paper. They are dangerous models, and induce those who endeavor to follow them to adopt a cold, vulgar, and ridiculous style.
- Celui qui n’a égard en écrivant qu’au goût de son siècle songe plus à sa personne qu’à ses écrits: il faut toujours tendre à la perfection, et alors cette justice qui nous est quelquefois refusée par nos contemporains, la postérité sait nous la rendre.
- He who only writes to suit the taste of the age, considers himself more than his writings. We should always aim at perfection, and then posterity will do us that justice which sometimes our contemporaries refuse.
- “Of Works of the Mind,” #67
- He who only writes to suit the taste of the age, considers himself more than his writings. We should always aim at perfection, and then posterity will do us that justice which sometimes our contemporaries refuse.
- Horace ou Despréaux l’a dit avant vous.—Je le crois sur votre parole; mais je l’ai dit comme mien. Ne puis-je pas penser après eux une chose vraie, et que d’autres encore penseront après moi?
- «Il est propre à tout», disent ses amis, ce qui signifie toujours qu’il n’a pas plus de talent pour une chose que pour une autre, ou en d’autres termes, qu’il n’est propre à rien.
- “He is fit for anything,” say his friends, which always means that he has no more talent for one thing than for another, or, in other words, that he is fit for nothing.
- “Of Personal Merit,” #10
- “He is fit for anything,” say his friends, which always means that he has no more talent for one thing than for another, or, in other words, that he is fit for nothing.
- Se faire valoir par des choses qui ne dépendent point des autres, mais de soi seul, ou renoncer à se faire valoir: maxime inestimable et d’une ressource infinie dans la pratique, utile aux faibles, aux vertueux, à ceux qui ont de l’esprit, qu’elle rend maîtres de leur fortune ou de leur repos: pernicieuse pour les grands, qui diminuerait leur cour, ou plutôt le nombre de leurs esclaves, qui ferait tomber leur morgue avec une partie de leur autorité, et les réduirait presque à leurs entremets et à leurs équipages; qui les priverait du plaisir qu’ils sentent à se faire prier, presser, solliciter, à faire attendre ou à refuser, à promettre et à ne pas donner; qui les traverserait dans le goût qu’ils ont quelquefois à mettre les sots en vue et à anéantir le mérite quand il leur arrive de le discerner; qui bannirait des cours les brigues, les cabales, les mauvais offices, la bassesse, la flatterie, la fourberie; qui ferait d’une cour orageuse, pleine de mouvements et d’intrigues, comme une pièce comique ou même tragique, dont les sages ne seraient que les spectateurs; qui remettrait de la dignité dans les différentes conditions des hommes, de la sérénité, sur leurs visages; qui étendrait leur liberté; qui réveillerait en eux, avec les talents naturels, l’habitude du travail et de l’exercice; qui les exciterait à l’émulation, au désir de la gloire, à l’amour de la vertu; qui, au lieu de courtisans vils, inquiets, inutiles, souvent onéreux à la république, en ferait ou de sages économes, ou d’excellents pères de famille, ou des juges intègres, ou de bons officiers, ou de grands capitaines, ou des orateurs, ou des philosophes; et qui ne leur attirerait à tous nul autre inconvénient, que celui peut-être de laisser à leurs héritiers moins de trésors que de bons exemples.
- To make the most of ourselves through things which do not depend on others but on ourselves alone, or to abandon all ideas of making the most of ourselves, is an inestimable maxim and of infinite advantage when brought into practice. … It would banish from courts plots, parties, trickery, baseness, flattery, and deceit; it would make a court, full of agitation, bustle, and intrigue, resemble a comedy, or even a tragedy, where the wise are only spectators; it would restore dignity to the several conditions of men, serenity to their looks, enlarge their liberty, and awaken in them their natural talents as well as a habit for work and for exercise; … and instead of vile, restless, useless courtiers, often burdensome to the commonwealth, would make them clever administrators, exemplary heads of families, upright judges or good financiers, great commanders, orators, or philosophers; and all the inconvenience any of them would suffer through this would be, perhaps, to leave to their heirs less treasures, but excellent examples.
- “Of Personal Merit,” #11
- To make the most of ourselves through things which do not depend on others but on ourselves alone, or to abandon all ideas of making the most of ourselves, is an inestimable maxim and of infinite advantage when brought into practice. … It would banish from courts plots, parties, trickery, baseness, flattery, and deceit; it would make a court, full of agitation, bustle, and intrigue, resemble a comedy, or even a tragedy, where the wise are only spectators; it would restore dignity to the several conditions of men, serenity to their looks, enlarge their liberty, and awaken in them their natural talents as well as a habit for work and for exercise; … and instead of vile, restless, useless courtiers, often burdensome to the commonwealth, would make them clever administrators, exemplary heads of families, upright judges or good financiers, great commanders, orators, or philosophers; and all the inconvenience any of them would suffer through this would be, perhaps, to leave to their heirs less treasures, but excellent examples.
- Personne presque n’a assez de mérite pour jouer ce rôle avec dignité, ni assez de fonds pour remplir le vide du temps, sans ce que le vulgaire appelle des affaires. Il ne manque cependant à l’oisiveté du sage qu’un meilleur nom, et que méditer, parler, lire, et être tranquille s’appelât travailler.
- Almost no one has merit enough to … pass his leisure hours without what is vulgarly called “business.” There is, however, nothing wanting to the idleness of a philosopher but a better name, and that meditation, conversation, and reading should be called “work.”
- “Of Personal Merit,” #12
- Almost no one has merit enough to … pass his leisure hours without what is vulgarly called “business.” There is, however, nothing wanting to the idleness of a philosopher but a better name, and that meditation, conversation, and reading should be called “work.”
- La modestie est au mérite ce que les ombres sont aux figures dans un tableau: elle lui donne de la force et du relief.
- Modesty is to merit what shade is to figures in a picture; it gives it strength and makes it stand out.
- “Of Personal Merit,” #17
- Modesty is to merit what shade is to figures in a picture; it gives it strength and makes it stand out.
- Un extérieur simple est l’habit des hommes vulgaires, il est taillé pour eux et sur leur mesure; mais c’est une parure pour ceux qui ont rempli leur vie de grandes actions: je les compare à une beauté négligée, mais plus piquante.
- Outward simplicity befits ordinary men, like a garment made to measure for them; but it serves as an adornment to those who have filled their lives with great deeds: they might be compared to some beauty carelessly dressed and thereby all the more attractive.
- “Of Personal Merit,” #17
- Outward simplicity befits ordinary men, like a garment made to measure for them; but it serves as an adornment to those who have filled their lives with great deeds: they might be compared to some beauty carelessly dressed and thereby all the more attractive.
- A plain appearance is to ordinary men their proper garb: it suits them and fits them, but it adorns those persons whose lives have been distinguished by grand deeds.
- “Of Personal Merit,” #17
- S’il est ordinaire d’être vivement touché des choses rares, pourquoi le sommes-nous si peu de la vertu?
- If it be usual to be strongly impressed by things that are scarce, why are we so little impressed by virtue?
- “Of Personal Merit,” #20
- If it be usual to be strongly impressed by things that are scarce, why are we so little impressed by virtue?
- S’il est heureux d’avoir de la naissance, il ne l’est pas moins d’être tel qu’on ne s’informe plus si vous en avez.
- If it be a happiness to be of noble parentage, it is no less so to possess so much merit that nobody inquires whether we are noble or plebeian.
- “Of Personal Merit,” #21
- If it be a happiness to be of noble parentage, it is no less so to possess so much merit that nobody inquires whether we are noble or plebeian.
- Il apparaît de temps en temps sur la surface de la terre des hommes rares, exquis, qui brillent par leur vertu, et dont les qualités éminentes jettent un éclat prodigieux. Semblables à ces étoiles extraordinaires dont on ignore les causes, et dont on sait encore moins ce qu’elles deviennent après avoir disparu, ils n’ont ni aïeuls, ni descendants: ils composent seuls toute leur race.
- From time to time have appeared in the world some extraordinary and admirable men, refulgent by their virtues, and whose eminent qualities have shone with prodigious brilliancy, like those uncommon stars of which we do not know why they appear, and know still less what becomes of them after they have disappeared. These men have neither ancestors nor posterity; they alone are their whole race.
- “Of Personal Merit,” #22
- From time to time have appeared in the world some extraordinary and admirable men, refulgent by their virtues, and whose eminent qualities have shone with prodigious brilliancy, like those uncommon stars of which we do not know why they appear, and know still less what becomes of them after they have disappeared. These men have neither ancestors nor posterity; they alone are their whole race.
- Menippus is a bird decked in various feathers which are not his. He neither says nor feels anything, but repeats the feelings and sayings of others; it is so natural for him to make use of other people’s minds that he is the first deceived by it, and often believes he speaks his own mind or expresses his own thoughts when he is but the echo of some man he just parted with.
- “Of Personal Merit,” #40
- A wise man is cured of ambition by ambition itself; his aim is so exalted that riches, office, fortune, and favor cannot satisfy him. He sees nothing sufficient to engage his affections and to render it deserving of his cares and his desires. ... The only thing that might tempt him is that kind of honor which should attend a wholly pure and unaffected virtue; but men but rarely grant it, so he does without it.
- “Of Personal Merit,” #43
- It is no more in our power to love always than it was not to love at all.
- “Of the Affections,” #31
- There are some men who turn a deaf ear to reason and good advice, and wilfully go wrong for fear of being controlled.
- “Of the Affections,” #71
- An intelligent man neither allows himself to be controlled nor attempts to control others; he wishes reason alone to rule, and that always.
- “Of the Affections,” #71
- All passions are deceptive; they conceal themselves as much as possible from others and from themselves as well. No vice exists which does not pretend to be more or less like some virtue, and which does not take advantage of this assumed resemblance.
- “Of the Affections,” #72
- Est-ce un si grand mal d’être entendu quand on parle, et de parler comme tout le monde? Une chose vous manque, Acis, à vous et à vos semblables les diseurs de phoebus; vous ne vous en défiez point, et je vais vous jeter dans l’étonnement: une chose vous manque, c’est l’esprit. Ce n’est pas tout: il y a en vous une chose de trop, qui est l’opinion d’en avoir plus que les autres; voilà la source de votre pompeux galimatias, de vos phrases embrouillées, et de vos grands mots qui ne signifient rien. Vous abordez cet homme, ou vous entrez dans cette chambre; je vous tire par votre habit, et vous dis à l’oreille: «Ne songez point à avoir de l’esprit, n’en ayez point, c’est votre rôle; ayez, si vous pouvez, un langage simple, et tel que l’ont ceux en qui vous ne trouvez aucun esprit peut-être alors croira-t-on que vous en avez.»
- Is it so very wrong to be intelligible in speaking, and to speak as everybody does? There is one thing, Acis, which you … want very much; you have not the smallest suspicion of it, and I know I am going to surprise you. Do you know what that thing is? It is wit. But that is not all. There is too much of something else in you, which is the opinion that you have more intelligence than other men; this is the cause of all your pompous nonsense, of your mixed-up phraseology, and of all those grand words without any meaning. The next time I find you addressing anybody, or entering a room, I shall pull your coat-tails and whisper to you: “Do not pretend to be witty; be natural, that is better suited to you; use, if you can, plain language, such as those persons speak whom you fancy are without wit; then, perhaps, we may think you have some yourself.”
- “Of Society and Conversation,” #7
- Is it so very wrong to be intelligible in speaking, and to speak as everybody does? There is one thing, Acis, which you … want very much; you have not the smallest suspicion of it, and I know I am going to surprise you. Do you know what that thing is? It is wit. But that is not all. There is too much of something else in you, which is the opinion that you have more intelligence than other men; this is the cause of all your pompous nonsense, of your mixed-up phraseology, and of all those grand words without any meaning. The next time I find you addressing anybody, or entering a room, I shall pull your coat-tails and whisper to you: “Do not pretend to be witty; be natural, that is better suited to you; use, if you can, plain language, such as those persons speak whom you fancy are without wit; then, perhaps, we may think you have some yourself.”
- Il y a des gens qui parlent un moment avant que d’avoir pensé. Il y en a d’autres qui ont une fade attention à ce qu’ils disent, et avec qui l’on souffre dans la conversation de tout le travail de leur esprit; ils sont comme pétris de phrases et de petits tours d’expression, concertés dans leur geste et dans tout leur maintien; ils sont puristes, et ne hasardent pas le moindre mot, quand il devrait faire le plus bel effet du monde; rien d’heureux ne leur échappe, rien ne coule de source et avec liberté: ils parlent proprement et ennuyeusement.
- Some men speak one moment before they think; others tediously study everything they say, and in conversation bore us as painfully as was the travail of their mind. ... They call themselves “purists,” and do not venture to say the most trifling word not in use, however expressive it may be. Nothing comes from them worth remembering, nothing is spontaneous and unrestrained; they speak correctly, but they are very tiresome.
- “Of Society and Conversation,” #15
- Some men speak one moment before they think; others tediously study everything they say, and in conversation bore us as painfully as was the travail of their mind. ... They call themselves “purists,” and do not venture to say the most trifling word not in use, however expressive it may be. Nothing comes from them worth remembering, nothing is spontaneous and unrestrained; they speak correctly, but they are very tiresome.
- L’esprit de la conversation consiste bien moins à en montrer beaucoup qu’à en faire trouver aux autres: celui qui sort de votre entretien content de soi et de son esprit, l’est de vous parfaitement. Les hommes n’aiment point à vous admirer, ils veulent plaire; ils cherchent moins à être instruits, et même réjouis, qu’à être goûtés et applaudis; et le plaisir le plus délicat est de faire celui d’autrui.
- The true spirit of conversation consists more in bringing out the cleverness of others than in showing a great deal of it yourself; he who goes away pleased with himself and his own wit is also greatly pleased with you. Most men would rather please than admire you; they seek less to be instructed, and even to be amused, than to be praised and applauded; the most delicate of pleasures is to please another person.
- “Of Society and Conversation,” #16
- The true spirit of conversation consists more in bringing out the cleverness of others than in showing a great deal of it yourself; he who goes away pleased with himself and his own wit is also greatly pleased with you. Most men would rather please than admire you; they seek less to be instructed, and even to be amused, than to be praised and applauded; the most delicate of pleasures is to please another person.
- C’est une grande misère que de n’avoir pas assez d’esprit pour bien parler, ni assez de jugement pour se taire. Voilà le principe de toute impertinence.
- It is a sad thing when men have neither enough intelligence to speak well nor enough sense to hold their tongues.
- “Of Society and Conversation,” #18
- It is a sad thing when men have neither enough intelligence to speak well nor enough sense to hold their tongues.
- Il fait qu’on la suit par imitation, et que l’on s’y perfectionne.
- Politeness is acquired and perfected by imitation.
- “Of Society and Conversation,” #32
- Politeness is acquired and perfected by imitation.
- Il me semble que l’esprit de politesse est une certaine attention à faire que par nos paroles et par nos manières les autres soient contents de nous et d’eux-mêmes.
- The very essence of politeness seems to be to take care that by our words and actions we make other people pleased with us as well as with themselves.
- “Of Society and Conversation,” #32
- The very essence of politeness seems to be to take care that by our words and actions we make other people pleased with us as well as with themselves.
- Ne pouvoir supporter tous les mauvais caractères dont le monde est plein n’est pas un fort bon caractère: il faut dans le commerce des pièces d’or et de la monnaie.
- Not to be able to bear with all bad-tempered people with whom the world is crowded, shows that a man has not a good temper himself.
- “Of Society and Conversation,” #37
- Not to be able to bear with all bad-tempered people with whom the world is crowded, shows that a man has not a good temper himself.
- Le sage quelquefois évite le monde, de peur d’être ennuyé.
- Wise men sometimes avoid the world, that they may not be surfeited with it.
- “Of Society and Conversation,” #83
- Wise men sometimes avoid the world, that they may not be surfeited with it.
- À mesure que la faveur et les grands biens se retirent d’un homme, ils laissent voir en lui le ridicule qu’ils couvraient, et qui y était sans que personne s’en aperçût.
- As favour and riches forsake a man, we discover in him the foolishness they concealed, and which no one perceived before.
- “Of The Gifts of Fortune,” #4
- As favour and riches forsake a man, we discover in him the foolishness they concealed, and which no one perceived before.
- N’envions point à une sorte de gens leurs grandes richesses; ils les ont à titre onéreux, et qui ne nous accommoderait point: ils ont mis leur repos, leur santé, leur honneur et leur conscience pour les avoir; cela est trop cher, et il n’y a rien à gagner à un tel marché.
- Let us not envy a certain class of men for their enormous riches; they have paid such an equivalent for them that it would not suit us; they have given for them their peace of mind, their health, their honour, and their conscience; this is rather too dear, and there is nothing to be made out of such a bargain.
- “Of The Gifts of Fortune,” #13
- Let us not envy a certain class of men for their enormous riches; they have paid such an equivalent for them that it would not suit us; they have given for them their peace of mind, their health, their honour, and their conscience; this is rather too dear, and there is nothing to be made out of such a bargain.
- Celui-là est riche, qui reçoit plus qu’il ne consume; celui-là est pauvre, dont la dépense excède la recette.
- A man is rich whose income is larger than his expenses, and he is poor if his expenses are greater than his income.
- “Of The Gifts of Fortune,” #49
- A man is rich whose income is larger than his expenses, and he is poor if his expenses are greater than his income.
- S’il est vrai que l’on soit riche de tout ce dont on n’a pas besoin, un homme fort riche, c’est un homme qui est sage.
- If it be true that a man is rich who wants nothing, a wise man is a very rich man.
- “Of The Gifts of Fortune,” #49
- If it be true that a man is rich who wants nothing, a wise man is a very rich man.
- S’il est vrai que l’on soit pauvre par toutes les choses que l’on désire, l’ambitieux et l’avare languissent dans une extrême pauvreté.
- If it is true that one is poor on account of all the things one wants, the ambitious and the avaricious languish in extreme poverty.
- “Of The Gifts of Fortune,” #49
- If it is true that one is poor on account of all the things one wants, the ambitious and the avaricious languish in extreme poverty.
- Du même fonds d’orgueil dont l’on s’élève fièrement au-dessus de ses inférieurs, l’on rampe vilement devant ceux qui sont au-dessus de soi. C’est le propre de ce vice, qui n’est fondé ni sur le mérite personnel ni sur la vertu, mais sur les richesses, les postes, le crédit, et sur de vaines sciences, de nous porter également à mépriser ceux qui ont moins que nous de cette espèce de biens, et à estimer trop ceux qui en ont une mesure qui excède la nôtre.
- The same pride which makes a man treat haughtily his inferiors, makes him cringe servilely to those above him. It is the very nature of this vice, which is neither based on personal merit nor on virtue, but on riches, posts, influence, and useless knowledge, to render a man as supercilious to those who are below him as to over-value those who are above.
- “Of The Gifts of Fortune,” #57
- The same pride which makes a man treat haughtily his inferiors, makes him cringe servilely to those above him. It is the very nature of this vice, which is neither based on personal merit nor on virtue, but on riches, posts, influence, and useless knowledge, to render a man as supercilious to those who are below him as to over-value those who are above.
- Il y a des âmes sales, pétries de boue et d’ordure, éprises du gain et de l’intérêt, comme les belles âmes le sont de la gloire et de la vertu; capables d’une seule volupté, qui est celle d’acquérir ou de ne point perdre.
- 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.
- “Of The Gifts of Fortune,” #58
- 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.
- We must laugh before we are happy, for fear we die before we laugh at all.
- “Of the Heart,” #63
- Nothing more clearly shows how little God esteems his gift to men of wealth, money, position and other worldly goods, than the way he distributes these, and the sort of men who are most amply provided with them.
- “Of Worldly Goods,” #24
- 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.
- “The Great,” #56