The glory of great men must always be measured against the means they have used to acquire it.
[La gloire des grands hommes se doit toujours mesurer aux moyens dont ils se sont servis pour l’acquérir.]
François VI, duc de La Rochefoucauld (1613-1680) French epigrammatist, memoirist, noble
Réflexions ou sentences et maximes morales [Reflections; or Sentences and Moral Maxims], ¶157 (1665-1678) [tr. Tancock (1959)]
(Source)
Appeared in the 1st edition (1665), reading "La gloire des grands hommes se doit mesurer aux moyens qu’ils ont eus pour l’acquérir."
(Source (French)). Other translations:Great mens Honour ought always to be measured by the Methods they made use of for the attaining it.
[tr. Stanhope (1694), ¶158]The glory of great men ought always to be rated according to the means used to acquire it.
[pub. Donaldson (1783), ¶191; ed. Lepoittevin-Lacroix (1797), ¶151]The glory of great men is ever to be rated according to the means used to acquire it.
[ed. Carvill (1835), ¶159]The glory of men should always be proportioned to the means they have employed to acquire it.
[ed. Gowens (1851), ¶161]The fame of great men ought always to be estimated by the means used to acquire it.
[tr. Bund/Friswell (1871), ¶157]Glory is measured by the means used to attain it.
[tr. Heard (1917), ¶157]The fame of great men should always be measured by the means they employed to acquire it.
[tr. Stevens (1939), ¶157]A great man's fame must always be measured against the means used to acquire it.
[tr. FitzGibbon (1957), ¶157]The fame of great men should always be judged by the methods they employed to achieve it.
[tr. Kronenberger (1959), ¶157]The glory of great men must always be measured according to the means by which they have acquired it.
[tr. Whichello (2016) ¶157]
