We deceive ourselves thinking that only violent passions, like ambition and love, can overpower our other instincts. Indolence, thoroughly languid though it be, very seldom fails to be master; it interferes with all our plans and actions, and gradually wears down and destroys our passions and our virtues.
[C’est se tromper que de croire qu’il n’y ait que les violentes passions, comme l’ambition et l’amour, qui puissent triompher des autres. La paresse, toute languissante qu’elle est, ne laisse pas d’en être souvent la maîtresse; elle usurpe sur tous les desseins et sur toutes les actions de la vie; elle y détruit et y consume insensiblement les passions et les vertus.]
François VI, duc de La Rochefoucauld (1613-1680) French epigrammatist, memoirist, noble
Réflexions ou sentences et maximes morales [Reflections; or Sentences and Moral Maxims], ¶266 (1665-1678) [tr. Kronenberger (1959)]
(Source)
In the 1st (1665) edition, the maxim began, On s’est trompé quand on a cru qu’il n’y avoit que les violentes passions, coninie, etc., qui pussent … and ended ... elle y détruit et y consomme insensiblement toutes les passions et toutes les vertus.
In the manuscript, the French reads:On s’est trompé quand on a cru, après tant de grands exemples, que l’ambition et l’amour triomphent toujours des autres passions; c’est la paresse, toute languissante qu’elle est, qui en est le plus souvent la maîtresse: elle usurpe insensiblement sur tous les desseins et sur toutes les actions de la vie; enfin elle émousse et éteint toutes les passions et toutes les vertus.
See also ¶169.(Source (French)). Alternate translations:'Tis a great mistake, to think that Love and Ambition triumph over all the other Passions: on the contrary, Sloth, notwithstanding all its languishment, hath many times a soveraignty over them; this insensibly usurps an Empire over all the designs, and over all the actions of life; this destroys and compleats all the Passions, and all the Virtues employ'd in the conduct of it.
[tr. Davies (1669), ¶96]It is a Mighty Error, to suppose, that none but Violent and Strong Passions, such as Love, and Ambition, are able to Vanquish the rest. Even Idleness, as Feeble and Languishing as it is, sometimes reigns over Them; This Usurps the Throne, and sits Paramount over all the Designs and Actions of our Lives; and Insensibly wasts and destroys all our Passions, and all our Vertues.
[tr. Stanhope (1694), ¶247]It is a mistake to imagine, that the violent passions only, such as ambition and love, can triump over the rest. Idleness, languid as it is, often masters them all; she indeed influences all our designs and actions, and insensibly consumes and destroys both passions and virtues.
[pub. Donaldson (1783), ¶232]It is a mistake to imagine that the violent passions only, such as ambition and love, can triumph over the rest. Idleness, languid as it is, often governs them all; she influences all our designs and our actions; she insensibly consumes and destroys both the passions and the virtues.
[ed. Carvill (1835), ¶201]It is deceiving ourselves to fancy that it is only the violent passions, such as ambition; and love, which can triumph over the others. Indolence, all languid as it is, nevertheless is frequently their master; it spreads its dominions over all the designs and all the actions of life, and thus destroys and insensibly consumes the passions and the virtues.
[ed. Gowens (1851), ¶277]We deceive ourselves if we believe that there are violent passions like ambition and love that can triumph over others. Idleness, languishing as she is, does not often fail in being mistress; she usurps authority over all the plans and actions of life; imperceptibly consuming and destroying both passions and virtues.
[tr. Bund/Friswell (1871), ¶266]It is a great mistake to believe that only violent passions, such as love and ambition, can make us masters of others. Laziness with all its indolence is often the most absolute sovereign; it encroaches upon all the plans and acts of our lives, and, little by little, saps and destroys our passions and our virtues.
[tr. Heard (1917), ¶274]It is a mistake to believe that only the violent passions, such as ambition or love, can dominate their fellows. Indolence, sluggish though she be, is often the queen of them all; she encroaches upon all the intentions and actions of our life; unperceived she crushes and engorges passion and virtue alike.
[tr. FitzGibbon (1957), ¶266]We make a mistake if we believe that only the violent passions like ambition and love can subdue the others. Laziness, for all her languor, is nevertheless often mistress: she permeates every aim and action in life and imperceptibly eats away and destroys passions and virtues alike.
[tr. Tancock (1959), ¶266]We deceive ourselves if we believe that it is the violent passions alone, like ambition and love, that can triumph over the others. Idleness, as languishing as it is, rarely fails to be the master: it usurps all the plans and actions of our lives, destroying and insensibly consuming both passions and virtues.
[tr. Whichello (2016) ¶266]
