The generality of virtuous women are like hidden treasures, they are safe only because nobody has sought after them.
Francois De La RochefoucauldRead
The first lover is kept a long while, when no offer is made of a second.
Interpretation
The first romantic relationship often lasts longer when no additional offers for love come along.
This quote by Francois De La Rochefoucauld suggests that the duration of a first romantic relationship can be extended if no other romantic opportunities present themselves. It implies that the lack of alternatives can lead to a sense of loyalty or attachment to the first lover, regardless of the quality or depth of that love.
In practice
During a wedding speech, a friend might say this to emphasize the uniqueness of first love.
The generality of virtuous women are like hidden treasures, they are safe only because nobody has sought after them.
Old men delight in giving good advice as a consolation for the fact that they can no longer set bad examples.
Some counterfeits reproduce so very well the truth that it would be a flaw of judgment not to be deceived by them.
Conceit causes more conversation than wit.
The defects and faults of the mind are like wounds in the body; after all imaginable care has been taken to heal them up, still there will be a scar left behind, and they are in continual danger of breaking the skin and bursting out again.
To understand matters rightly we should understand their details; and as that knowledge is almost infinite, our knowledge is always superficial and imperfect.
What's the earth With all its art, verse, music, worth β Compared with love, found, gained, and kept?
My American gay audience have continued to dance and sing to the music I make in a way that straight Americans haven't. I am grateful to them for that.
Love alone is capable of uniting living beings in such a way as to complete and fulfill them, for it alone takes them and joins them by what is deepest in themselves. All we need is to imagine our ability to love developing until it embraces the totality of men and the earth.
There is always some madness in love. But there is also always some reason in madness.
The best way to know God is to love many things.
Wine prepares the heart for love, unless you take too much.
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