A man can keep another's secret better than his own. A woman her own better than others.
Jean de la Bruyere

A man of the world must seem to be what he wishes to be thought.
Jean de la Bruyere

A mediocre mind thinks it writes divinely; a good mind thinks it writes reasonably.
Jean de la Bruyere

A pious man is one who would be an atheist if the king were.
Jean de la Bruyere

A position of eminence makes a great person greater and a small person less.
Jean de la Bruyere

A slave has but one master; an ambitious man has as many masters as there are people who may be useful in bettering his position.
Jean de la Bruyere

A vain man finds it wise to speak good or ill of himself; a modest man does not talk of himself.
Jean de la Bruyere

All men's misfortunes spring from their hatred of being alone.
Jean de la Bruyere

All of our unhappiness comes from our inability to be alone.
Jean de la Bruyere

As favor and riches forsake a man, we discover in him the foolishness they concealed, and which no one perceived before.
Jean de la Bruyere


At the beginning and at the end of love, the two lovers are embarrassed to find themselves alone.
Jean de la Bruyere

Avoid lawsuits beyond all things; they pervert your conscience, impair your health, and dissipate your property.
Jean de la Bruyere

Between good sense and good taste there lies the difference between a cause and its effect.
Jean de la Bruyere

Children enjoy the present because they have neither a past nor a future.
Jean de la Bruyere

Children have neither a past nor a future. Thus they enjoy the present, which seldom happens to us.
Jean de la Bruyere

Even the best intentioned of great men need a few scoundrels around them; there are some things you cannot ask an honest ma to do.
Jean de la Bruyere

Everything has been said, and we are more than seven thousand years of human thought too late.
Jean de la Bruyere

Grief at the absence of a loved one is happiness compared to life with a person one hates.
Jean de la Bruyere

He who tip-toes cannot stand; he who strides cannot walk.
Jean de la Bruyere

I would not like to see a person who is sober, moderate, chaste and just say that there is no God. They would speak disinterestedly at least, but such a person is not to be found.
Jean de la Bruyere