The generality of virtuous women are like hidden treasures, they are safe only because nobody has sought after them.
Francois De La RochefoucauldRead
Pride does not wish to owe and vanity does not wish to pay.
Interpretation
Pride prevents us from accepting help, while vanity keeps us from offering it.
This quote by Francois De La Rochefoucauld highlights the complexities of human emotions and social interactions, emphasizing that pride can obstruct our ability to accept assistance from others, while vanity can inhibit us from reciprocating and offering help. It speaks to the idea that our ego can create barriers in relationships, ultimately undermining both our capacity to receive and to give support.
In practice
A speaker at a leadership conference might use this quote to illustrate the importance of humility in teamwork.
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.
Looking at the world from other species' points of view is a cure for the disease of human self-importance. You suddenly realize that consciousness - which we value and we consider the crowning achievement of nature, human consciousness - is really just another set of tools for getting along in the world.
All abstract sciences are nothing but the study of relations between signs.
The test of all beliefs is their practical effect in life. If it be true that optimism compels the world forward, and pessimism retards it, then it is dangerous to propagate a pessimistic philosophy.
No matter how noble the objectives of a government, if it blurs decency and kindness, cheapens human life, and breeds ill will and suspicion; it is an evil government.
She always says she dislikes the abnormal, it is so obvious. She says the normal is so much more simply complicated and interesting.
I learned not to fear infinity, The far field, the windy cliffs of forever, The dying of time in the white light of tomorrow, The wheel turning away from itself, The sprawl of the wave, The on-coming water.
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