The extreme pleasure we take in talking about ourselves should make us afraid that we are not giving the same pleasure to those who listen to us.
[L’extrême plaisir que nous prenons à parler de nous-mêmes nous doit faire craindre de n’en donner guère à ceux qui nous écoutent.]
François VI, duc de La Rochefoucauld (1613–1680) French epigrammatist, memoirist, noble
Réflexions ou sentences et maximes morales [Reflections; or Sentences and Moral Maxims], ¶314 (1665-1678) [tr. Chandler]
(Source)
Present in the 3rd (1671) edition.
(Source (French)). Other translations:The exceeding delight we take in discoursing about our selves, may well make us suspect, that we allow but very little Pleasure, to them that converse with us.
[tr. Stanhope (1694), ¶314]The excessive pleasure we find in talking about ourselves ought to make us apprehensive that it gives but little to our auditors.
[pub. Donaldson (1783), ¶415; ed. Lepoittevin-Lacroix (1797), ¶289]The excessive pleasure we find in talking of ourselves, should make us apprehensive that we afford little to our auditors.
[ed. Carvill (1835), ¶353]The extreme pleasure we take in talking of ourselves should make us fear that we give very little to those who listen to us.
[ed. Gowens (1851), ¶324]The extreme delight we take in talking of ourselves should warn us that it is not shared by those who listen.
[tr. Bund/Friswell (1871), ¶314]The vast pleasure we derive from talking of ourselves should make us suspect that the pleasure of our audience may not be as great.
[tr. Heard (1917), ¶321]The keen pleasure we take in talking about ourselves should warn us not to be chary of giving that pleasure to our listeners.
[tr. Stevens (1939), ¶314]The extreme pleasure we derive from talking about ourselves should warn us that for our audience the pleasure will be almost nil.
[tr. FitzGibbon (1957), ¶314]The vast pleasure we get from talking about ourselves should warn us that we are giving almost no pleasure to those who are listening.
[tr. Kronenberger (1959), ¶314]The extreme enjoyment we find in talking about ourselves should make us fear we are not giving very much to our audience.
[tr. Tancock (1959), ¶314]The extreme pleasure we take in speaking about ourselves, ought to make us fear that we may be giving scarcely any of it to those who hear us.
[tr. Whichello (2016) ¶314]
