Francois de La Rochefoucauld

"We label judges with having the meanest motives, and yet we desire that our reputation and fame should depend upon the judgment of men, who are all, either from their jealousy or preoccupation or want of intelligence, opposed to us - and yet despite their bias, just for the sake of making these men decide in our favor, we peril in so many ways both our peace and our life."

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Source: Maxims by Francois de La Rochefoucauld, (No. 359), 1665-1678.

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Francois de La Rochefoucauld

Francois de La Rochefoucauld

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Francois de La Rochefoucauld was a 17th-century French writer known for his insightful maxims on human nature and morality.

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"The passions are the only orators that always persuade: they are, as it were, a natural art, the rules of which are infallible; and the simplest man with passion is more persuasive than the most eloquent without it."

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