Jean de La Bruyère

Liberality consists less in giving a great deal than in gifts well-timed

To endeavor to forget anyone is a certain way of thinking of nothing else

Between good sense and good taste there lies the difference between a cause and its effect

It requires more than mere genius to be an author

The Opera is obviously the first draft of a fine spectacle; it suggests the idea of one.

We perceive when love begins and when it declines by our embarrassment when alone together.

All men's misfortunes spring from their hatred of being alone

Between genius and talent there is the proportion of the whole to its part

A man of the world must seem to be what he wishes to be thought

There are few finer excesses in the world than an excess of gratitude

Two quite opposite qualities equally bias our minds - habits and novelty

The pleasure of criticizing takes away from us the pleasure of being moved by some very fine things

The wise person often shuns society for fear of being bored.

The giving is the hardest part; what does it cost to add a smile?

Marriage, it seems, confines every man to his proper rank

A position of eminence makes a great person greater and a small person less

If some persons died, and others did not die, death would be a terrible affliction

Modesty is to merit, as shades to figures in a picture, giving it strength and beauty

The court is like a palace of marble; it's composed of people very hard and very polished