Sébastien-Roch Nicolas Quotes
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Eminence without merit earns deference without esteem.
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It must be admitted that there are some parts of the soul which we must entirely paralyse before we can live happily in this world.
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He who disguises tyranny, protection, or even benefits under the air and name of friendship reminds me of the guilty priest who poisoned the sacramental bread.
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The most wasted day of all is that on which we have not laughed.
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The success of many books is due to the affinity between the mediocrity of the author's ideas and those of the public.
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Many men and women enjoy popular esteem, not because they are known, but because they are not known.
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Were a man to consult only his reason, who would marry? For myself, I wouldn't marry, for fear of having a son who resembled me.
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The poor are the blacks of Europe.
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There are two things that one must get used to or one will find life unendurable: the damages of time and injustices of men.
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Bachelors' wives and old maids' children are always perfect.
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Pleasure may come from illusion, but happiness can come only of reality.
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Sometimes apparent resemblance of character will bring two men together and for a certain time unite them. But their mistake gradually becomes evident, and they are astonished to find themselves not only far apart, but even repelled, in some sort, at all their points of contact.
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Nearly all men are slaves for the same reason that the Spartans assigned for the servitude of the Persians -- lack of power to pronounce the syllable, "No." To be able to utter that word and live alone, are the only means to preserve one's freedom and one's character.
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There is no history worthy attention save that of free nations; the history of nations under the sway of despotism is no more than a collection of anecdotes.
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The philosopher who would fain extinguish his passions resembles the chemist who would like to let his furnace go out.
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There some trifles well habited, as there are some fools well clothed.
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A person of intellect without energy added to it, is a failure.
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Whoever is not a misanthrope at forty can never have loved mankind.
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Life is a malady in which sleep soothes us every sixteen hours; it is a palliation; death is the remedy.
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One must not hope to be more than one can be.
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We gild our medicines with sweets; why not clothe truth and morals in peasant garments as well?
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Vain is equivalent to empty; thus vanity is so miserable a thing, that one cannot give it a worse name than its own. It proclaims itself for what it is.
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Most of those who make collections of verse or epigram are like men eating cherries or oysters: they choose out the best at first, and end by eating all.
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It is inconceivable how much wit it requires to avoid being ridiculous.