If I find in myself a desire which no experience in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that I was made for another world.
C. S. Lewis (1898-1963) English writer, literary scholar, lay theologian [Clive Staples Lewis]
Mere Christianity, Bk. III, ch. 10
Friendship is unnecessary, like philosophy, like art, like the universe itself (for God did not need to create). It has no survival value; rather it is one of those things which give value to survival.
C. S. Lewis (1898-1963) English writer, literary scholar, lay theologian [Clive Staples Lewis]
The Four Loves, ch. 4
“Well,” says the ghostly ex-cleric, “really, you know, I am not aware of a thirst for some ready-made truth which puts an end to intellectual activity in the way you seem to be describing. Will it leave me the free play of Mind, Dick? I must insist on that, you know.”
“You have gone far wrong,” Dick replies, “Thirst was made for water; inquiry for truth. What you now call the free play of inquiry has neither more nor less to do with the ends for which intelligence was given you than masturbation has to do with marriage”C. S. Lewis (1898-1963) English writer, literary scholar, lay theologian [Clive Staples Lewis]
The Great Divorce
Prayer is request. The essence of request, as distinct from compulsion, is that it may or may not be granted. And if an infinitely wise Being listens to the requests of finite and foolish creatures, of course He will sometimes grant and sometimes refuse them.
C. S. Lewis (1898-1963) English writer, literary scholar, lay theologian [Clive Staples Lewis]
The World’s Last Night and Other Essays, “The Efficacy of Prayer” (1959)
When I was ten, I read fairy tales in secret and would have been ashamed if I had been found doing so. Now that I am fifty, I read them openly. When I became a man I put away childish things, including the fear of childishness and the desire to be very grown up.
C. S. Lewis (1898-1963) English writer, literary scholar, lay theologian [Clive Staples Lewis]
“On Three Ways of Writing for Children,” lecture, Library Association Bournemouth Conference (29 Apr – 2 May 1952)
(Source)
Reprinted in On Stories (1966). Referencing 1 Corinthians 13:11.
Good and evil both increase at compound interest. That is why the little decisions you and I make every day are of such infinite importance. The smallest good act today is the capture of a strategic point from which, a few months later, you may be able to go on to victories you never dreamed of. An apparently trivial indulgence in lust or anger today is the loss of a ridge or railway line or bridgehead from which the enemy may launch an attack otherwise impossible.
C. S. Lewis (1898-1963) English writer, literary scholar, lay theologian [Clive Staples Lewis]
Mere Christianity, Book 3 “Christian Behavior,” ch. 7 “Forgiveness” (1952)
(Source)
To excuse what can really produce good excuses is not Christian charity; it is only fairness. To be a Christian means to forgive the inexcusable, because God has forgiven the inexcusable in you.
C. S. Lewis (1898-1963) English writer, literary scholar, lay theologian [Clive Staples Lewis]
“On Forgiveness”
A woman means by Unselfishness chiefly taking trouble for others; a man means not giving trouble to others.
C. S. Lewis (1898-1963) English writer, literary scholar, lay theologian [Clive Staples Lewis]
The Screwtape Letters, Letter XXVI
Indeed, in so far as things unseen are manifested by the things seen, one might from one point of view call the whole material universe an allegory.
C. S. Lewis (1898-1963) English writer, literary scholar, lay theologian [Clive Staples Lewis]
Letters of C.S. Lewis (10 Dec. 1956)
We do not know the play. We do not even know whether we are in Act I or Act V. We do not know who are the major and who are the minor characters. The Author knows. … But we, never seeing the play from the outside, … cannot tell at what moment the end ought to come. That it will come when it ought, we may be sure. … That it has a meaning we may be sure, but we cannot see it. When it is over, we may be told. We are led to expect that the Author will have something to say to each of us who has played. The playing it well is what matters infinitely.
C. S. Lewis (1898-1963) English writer, literary scholar, lay theologian [Clive Staples Lewis]
“The World’s Last Night”
To love involves trusting the beloved beyond the evidence, even against much evidence. No man is our friend who believes in our good intentions only when they are proved. No man is our friend who will not be very slow to accept evidence against them. Such confidence, between one man and another, is in fact almost universally praised as a moral beauty, not blamed as a logical error.
C. S. Lewis (1898-1963) English writer, literary scholar, lay theologian [Clive Staples Lewis]
The World’s Last Night, “On Obstinacy in Belief” (1955)
Whenever you are fed up with life, start writing: ink is the great cure for all human ills, as I have found out long ago.
C. S. Lewis (1898-1963) English writer, literary scholar, lay theologian [Clive Staples Lewis]
The Letters of C.S. Lewis to Arthur Greeves (30 May 1916)
My own idea, for what it is worth, is that all sadness which is not now either arising from the repentance of a concrete sin and hastening towards concrete amendment or restitution, or else arising from pity and hastening towards active assistance, is simply bad.
C. S. Lewis (1898-1963) English writer, literary scholar, lay theologian [Clive Staples Lewis]
(Attributed)
Perfect love, we know, casteth out fear. But so do several other things
C. S. Lewis (1898-1963) English writer, literary scholar, lay theologian [Clive Staples Lewis]
The World’s Last Night and Other Essays, “The World’s Last Night” (1952)
Has this world been so kind to you that you should leave with regret? There are better things ahead than any we leave behind.
C. S. Lewis (1898-1963) English writer, literary scholar, lay theologian [Clive Staples Lewis]
(Attributed)
Everyone says forgiveness is a lovely idea, until they have something to forgive.
C. S. Lewis (1898-1963) English writer, literary scholar, lay theologian [Clive Staples Lewis]
(Attributed)
Friendship is the greatest of worldly goods. Certainly to me it is the chief happiness of life. If I had to give a piece of advice to a young man about a place to live, I think I should say, “Sacrifice almost everything to live where you can be near your friends.” I know I am very fortunate in that respect.
C. S. Lewis (1898-1963) English writer, literary scholar, lay theologian [Clive Staples Lewis]
The Letters of C.S. Lewis to Arthur Greeves (29 Dec. 1935)
We are so little reconciled to time that we are even astonished at it. “How he’s grown!” we exclaim, “How time flies!” as though the universal form of our experience were again and again a novelty. It is as strange as if a fish were repeatedly surprised at the wetness of water. And that would be strange indeed; unless of course the fish were destined to become, one day, a land animal.
C. S. Lewis (1898-1963) English writer, literary scholar, lay theologian [Clive Staples Lewis]
Reflections on the Psalms, ch. 12
Of all tyrannies a tyranny sincerely exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. It may be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies, The robber baron’s cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated; but those who torment us for own good will torment us without end, for they do so with the approval of their own conscience. They may be more likely to go to Heaven yet at the same time likelier to make a Hell of earth.
C. S. Lewis (1898-1963) English writer, literary scholar, lay theologian [Clive Staples Lewis]
God in the Dock, “The Humanitarian Theory of Punishment” (1970)
Countries like ours are full of people who have all the material comforts they desire, yet lead lives of quiet (and at times noisy) desperation, understanding nothing but the fact that there is a hole inside them and that however much food and drink they pour into it, however many motorcars and television sets they stuff it with, however many well-balanced children and loyal friends they parade around the edges of it … it aches.
Bernard Levin (1928-2004) British journalist, critic, broadcaster, satirist
London Times (3 May 1968)
Remarking on a crowd of 90,000 at the Festival of Mind and Body, in London. See Thoreau.
Oh CHRISTONACRUTCHWITHCHEESEANDCRACKERSINBED!!! This old horse-apple again! Paranoid and arrogant victimhood again raises it thoughtless brow and vomits the rehashed meal of a thousand whines of sour grapes and pissing fantasies of mental pimphood. May the gods curse the damnable concept from the stinking spew of language until it is correctly termed.
Kelley Leverich (contemp.)
Belief-L (9 May 1999)
If you were perfect, you certainly wouldn’t be here. You would be someplace else with more class. And better service. And cheaper booze.
Kelley Leverich (contemp.)
Belief-L
I might be an anarchist, if it weren’t so much work and I weren’t so lazy.
Kelley Leverich (contemp.)
Belief-L (24 Jan 2001)
Most politicians are totally wusses with the ethical consideration of my cat begging for treats.
Kelley Leverich (contemp.)
Belief-L (31-Jan-2000)
Cultural bias makes more mistakes than sloppy handwriting.
Kelley Leverich (contemp.)
Belief-L (5 Jan 2001)
Statistics are like a bikini. What they reveal is suggestive, but what they conceal is vital.
Aaron Levenstein (1910-1986) American academic
(Attributed)
You must learn from the mistakes of others. You can’t possibly live long enough to make them all yourself.
Sam Levenson (1911-1980) American humorist, author
(Attributed)
Based on what you know about him in history books, what do you think Abraham Lincoln would be doing if he were alive today?
1. Writing his memoirs of the Civil War.
2. Advising the President.
3. Desperately clawing at the inside of his coffin.David Letterman (b. 1947) American comic, talk show host
(Attributed)
USA Today has come out with a new survey
David Letterman (b. 1947) American comic, talk show host
(Attributed)
The game of life is not so much in holding a good hand as in playing a poor hand well.
(Other Authors and Sources)
H. T. Leslie
The angels break into song at the sight of the throne and all the songs fit together as part of a greater song, but people seem to have to search to find the right song to sing. It is a matter of finding our proper nature.
(Other Authors and Sources)
Arn Lesikar, Belief-L listserv (6 Jun 1998)
AUNT ALICIA: Bad table manners, my dear Gigi, have broken up more households than infidelity.
Alan Jay Lerner (1918-1986) American dramatist, lyricist, composer
Gigi (1958)
book by Colette
In the long-run, there’s just another short-run.
Abba Lerner (1903-1982) Romanian-American economist
(Attributed)
It is easier to resist at the beginning than at the end.
Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519) Italian artist, engineer, scientist, polymath
(Attributed)
I take no more notice of the wind that comes out of the mouths of critics than of the wind expelled from their backsides.
Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519) Italian artist, engineer, scientist, polymath
(Attributed)
Anyone who in discussion relies upon authority uses, not his understanding, but his memory.
Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519) Italian artist, engineer, scientist, polymath
Notebooks (c. 1500) [tr. Richter]
Alt. trans.: "The one who relies on authority during a discussion does not use his mind but his memory."
Every now and then go away, have a little relaxation, for when you come back to your work your judgment will be surer. Go some distance away because then the work appears smaller and more of it can be taken in at a glance and a lack of harmony and proportion is more readily seen.
Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519) Italian artist, engineer, scientist, polymath
(Attributed)
The difference between pornography and erotica is lighting.
Gloria Leonard (1940-2014) American porn actress, publisher, activist [b. Gale Sandra Klinetsky]
(Attributed)
Why should freedom of speech and freedom of press be allowed? Why should a government which is doing what it believes to be right allow itself to be criticized? It would not allow opposition by lethal weapons. Ideas are much more fatal things than guns. Why should any man be allowed to buy a printing press and disseminate pernicious opinions calculated to embarrass the government?
Vladimir Ilich Lenin (1870-1924) Russian politician, revolutionary, political theorist [b. Vladimir Ilich Ulyamov]
(Attributed)
That’s the way things come clear. All of a sudden. And then you realize how obvious they’ve been all along.
Madeleine L'Engle (1918-2007) American writer
The Arm of the Starfish (1965)
That’s something I’ve noticed about food: whenever there’s a crisis if you can get people to eating normally things get better.
Madeleine L'Engle (1918-2007) American writer
(Attributed)
The Great God Science. It has failed us, because it was never meant to be a god, but only a few true scientists understand that.
Madeleine L'Engle (1918-2007) American writer
Dragons in the Waters (1976)
It’s a good thing to have all the props pulled out from under us occasionally. It gives us some sense of what is rock under our feet, and what is sand.
Madeleine L'Engle (1918-2007) American writer
“The Summer of the Great-Grandmother”
I have sometimes felt closest to God when I have been furious.
Madeleine L'Engle (1918-2007) American writer
(Attributed)
Inspiration usually comes during work, rather than before it.
Madeleine L'Engle (1918-2007) American writer
(Attributed)
Who Moved My Cheese? calendar
Sin first is pleasing, then it grows easy, then delightful, then frequent, then habitual, then confirmed; then the man is impenitent, then he is obstinate, then he is resolved never to repent, and then he is ruined.
Robert Leighton (1611-1684) Scottish prelate, classical scholar
(Attributed)
Life is like a sewer — what you get out of it depends on what you put into it.
Tom Lehrer (b. 1928) American mathematician, satirist, songwriter
An Evening Wasted
It is a sobering thought that when Mozart was my age, he had been dead for two years.
Tom Lehrer (b. 1928) American mathematician, satirist, songwriter
That Was the Year That Was (1965)
Power corrupts. Absolute power is kind of neat.
John F. Lehman, Jr. (b. 1942) U.S. Secretary of the Navy (1981-87), investment banker, writer
(Attributed)
VANDAMM: This matter is best disposed of from a great height, over water.
Ernest Lehman (1915-2005) American screenwriter
North by Northwest (1959)
(directed by Alfred Hitchcock)
Love doesn’t just sit there, like a stone; it has to be made, like bread; re-made all the time, made new.
Ursula K. Le Guin (1929-2018) American writer
The Lathe of Heaven
Murder is a crime. Describing murder is not.
Sex is not a crime. Describing sex is.Gershon Legman (1917-1999) American writer
Love & Death: A Study in Censorship (1949)
It is well that war is so terrible, or we should get too fond of it.
Robert E. Lee (1807-1870) American military leader
(Attributed)
Real courage is when you know you’re licked before you begin, but you begin anyway and see it through not matter what.
Harper Lee (1926-2016) American writer [Nellie Harper Lee]
To Kill a Mockingbird (1960)
“They’re certainly entitled to think that, and they’re entitled to full respect for their opinions,” said Atticus, “but before I can live with other folks I’ve got to live with myself. The one thing that doesn’t abide by majority rule is a person’s conscience.”
Harper Lee (1926-2016) American writer [Nellie Harper Lee]
To Kill a Mockingbird, ch. 11 (1960)
(Source)
Nothing will ever be attempted if all possible objections must be first overcome.
Jules W. Lederer (1917?-1999) American businessman
(Attributed)
SCOTTY: I bring you a warning. Every one of you listening to my voice. Tell the world. Tell this to everybody wherever they are: Watch the skies. Everywhere. Keep looking. Keep watching the skies.
Charles Lederer (1910-1976) American screenwriter
The Thing from Another World (1951)
screenplay with Christian Nyby
There is no wild beast so ferocious as Christians who differ concerning their faith.
William Lecky (1838-1903) Irish historian
(Attributed)
A desk is a dangerous place from which to view the world.
John le Carré (1931-2020) English novelist, intelligence officer [pseud. of David Moore Cornwell]
(Attributed)
Having your book turned into a movie is like seeing your oxen turned into bouillon cubes.
John le Carré (1931-2020) English novelist, intelligence officer [pseud. of David Moore Cornwell]
(Attributed)
No snowflake in an avalanche ever feels responsible.
[Żaden płatek śniegu nie czuje się odpowiedzialny za lawinę.]
Stanislaw Lec (1909-1966) Polish aphorist, poet, satirist
More Unkempt Thoughts [Myśli nieuczesane nowe] (1964) [tr. Gałązka (1969)]
(Source)
Alternate translation: "Each snowflake in an avalanche pleads not guilty."
More discussion of this quotation here: No Snowflake in an Avalanche Ever Feels Responsible – Quote Investigator.
He who limps still walks.
Stanislaw Lec (1909-1966) Polish aphorist, poet, satirist
Unkempt Thoughts [Myśli nieuczesane] (1957) [tr. Gałązka (1962)]
(Source)
Variant: "He who limps still walks."
Thoughts, like fleas, jump from man to man. But they don’t bite everybody.
Stanislaw Lec (1909-1966) Polish aphorist, poet, satirist
Unkempt Thoughts [Myśli nieuczesane] (1957) [tr. Gałązka (1962)]
(Source)
The only fool bigger than the person who knows it all is the person who argues with him.
Stanislaw Lec (1909-1966) Polish aphorist, poet, satirist
Unkempt Thoughts [Myśli nieuczesane] (1957) [tr. Gałązka (1962)]
Romantic love is mental illness. But it’s a pleasurable one. It’s a drug. It distorts reality, and that’s the point of it. It would be impossible to fall in love with someone that you really saw.
Fran Lebowitz (b. 1950) American journalist
(Attributed)
When dealing with a concept such as “important”, one would be well advised to ask: “To whom?”
Fran Lebowitz (b. 1950) American journalist
Metropolitan Life (1978)
If your sexual fantasies were truly of interest to others, they would no longer be fantasies.
Fran Lebowitz (b. 1950) American journalist
(Attributed)
All the civilizations we know have been created and directed by small intellectual aristocracies, never by people in the mass. The power of crowds is only to destroy.
Gustave LeBon (1841-1931) German psychologist
Psychologie des foules (1895)
(also attrib Jean de la Fontaine, Fables (1668))
People don’t ask for facts in making up their minds. They would rather have one good soul-satisfying emotion than a dozen facts.
Robert Keith Leavitt (1895-1967) American author and advertising copywriter
(Attributed)
Life is made up of small pleasures. Happiness is made up of those tiny successes
Norman Lear (1922-2023) American television writer-producer
(Attributed)
You get fifteen Democrats in a room, and you get twenty opinions.
Patrick Leahy (b. 1940) US Senator (D-VT)
(May 1990)
It is one of the commonest of mistakes to consider that the limit of our power of perception is also the limit of all there is to perceive.
C.W. Leadbeater (1846-1934) American Theosophist [Charles Webster Leadbeater]
Man Visible and Invisible (1902)
As we all know, too much of any divine thing is destruction.
David Herbert "D. H." Lawrence (1885-1930) English novelist
(Attributed)
Life is ours to be spent, not to be saved.
David Herbert "D. H." Lawrence (1885-1930) English novelist
(Attributed)
Now since our eternal state is as certainly ours, as our present state; since we are as certainly to live for ever, as we now live at all; it is plain, that we cannot judge of the value of any particular time, as to us, but by comparing it to that eternal duration, for which we are created.
William Law (1686-1761) English spiritual writer, mystic
A Serious Call to a Devout and Holy Life, ch. 13 (1728)
Experience is a hard teacher, because she gives the test first, the lesson afterward.
Vernon S. Law (b. 1930) American baseball player, writer
“How to Be a Winner,” This Week (14 Aug 1960)
The Bible contains 6 admonishments to homosexuals and 362 admonishments to heterosexuals. That doesn’t mean that God doesn’t love heterosexuals. It’s just that they need more supervision.
Lynn Lavner (contemp.) American comedian, pianist, singer
(Attributed)
Say not you know another entirely, till you have divided an inheritance with him.
Johann Kaspar Lavater (1741-1801) Swiss poet, theologian, physiognomist.
Aphorisms on Man, #157 (1788)
They can’t censor the gleam in my eye.
Charles Laughton (1899-1962) British actor
(1934)
comment to Irving Thalberg during filming of "The Barretts of Wimpole Street"
We do not have to choose our favorite among the seasons. It is only necessary to rejoice in the beauty of their differences.
Evelyn Lauder (1936-2011) Austrian-American businesswoman, philanthropist
The Seasons Observed
If all the cars in the United States were placed end to end, it would probably be Labor Day Weekend.
Doug Larson (1902-1981) American journalist
(Attributed)
The aging process has you firmly in its grasp if you never get the urge to throw a snowball.
Doug Larson (1902-1981) American journalist
(Attributed)
Life expectancy would grow by leaps and bounds if green vegetables smelled as good as bacon.
Doug Larson (1902-1981) American journalist
(Attributed)
The reason people blame things on previous generations is that there’s only one other choice.
Doug Larson (1902-1981) American journalist
(Attributed)
Accomplishing the impossible only means the boss will add it to your regular duties.
Doug Larson (1902-1981) American journalist
(Attributed)
Not all those who know their minds know their hearts as well.
[Tous ceux qui connaissent leur esprit ne connaissent pas leur coeur.]
François VI, duc de La Rochefoucauld (1613-1680) French epigrammatist, memoirist, noble
Réflexions ou sentences et maximes morales [Maxims], #103 (1665-1678)
We are so accustomed to disguise ourselves to others that in the end we become disguised to ourselves.
François VI, duc de La Rochefoucauld (1613-1680) French epigrammatist, memoirist, noble
(Attributed)
When we are unable to find tranquility within ourselves, it is useless to seek it elsewhere.
François VI, duc de La Rochefoucauld (1613-1680) French epigrammatist, memoirist, noble
(Attributed)
The glory of great men must always be measured against the means they have used to acquire it.
François VI, duc de La Rochefoucauld (1613-1680) French epigrammatist, memoirist, noble
Réflexions ou sentences et maximes morales [Maxims], #157 (1665-1678) [tr. Tancock (1959)]
Alt. trans.:
- "The fame of great men ought to be judged always by the means they used to acquire it."
- "The glory of a great man ought always to be estimated by the means used to acquire it."
Absence diminishes mediocre passions and increases great ones, as the wind blows out candles and fans flames.
[L’absence diminue les médiocres passions, et augmente les grandes, comme le vent éteint les bougies et allume le feu.]
François VI, duc de La Rochefoucauld (1613-1680) French epigrammatist, memoirist, noble
Réflexions ou sentences et maximes morales [Maxims], #276 (1665-1678)
Alt. trans.: "Absence lessens the minor passions and increases the great ones, as the wind douses a candle and kindles a fire."
(See DeBussy)
Almost all our faults are more pardonable than the methods we resort to hide them.
[On n’a guère de défauts qui ne soient plus pardonnables que les moyens dont on se sert pour les cacher.]
François VI, duc de La Rochefoucauld (1613-1680) French epigrammatist, memoirist, noble
Réflexions ou sentences et maximes morales [Maxims], #411 (1665-1678) (1665)
A small degree of wit, accompanied by good sense, is less tiresome in the long run than a great amount of wit without it.
François VI, duc de La Rochefoucauld (1613-1680) French epigrammatist, memoirist, noble
(Attributed)
The true way to be deceived is to think oneself more clever than others.
[Le vrai moyen d’être trompé, c’est de se croire plus fin que les autres.]
François VI, duc de La Rochefoucauld (1613-1680) French epigrammatist, memoirist, noble
Réflexions ou sentences et maximes morales [Maxims], #127 (1665-1678)
Our enemies come nearer the truth in the opinions they form of us than we do in our opinion of ourselves.
[Nous essayons de nous faire honneur des défauts que nous ne voulons pas corriger.]
François VI, duc de La Rochefoucauld (1613-1680) French epigrammatist, memoirist, noble
Réflexions ou sentences et maximes morales [Maxims], #458 (1665-1678)
Tricks and treachery are merely proof of lack of skill.
[Les finesses et les trahisons ne viennent que de manque d’habileté.]
François VI, duc de La Rochefoucauld (1613-1680) French epigrammatist, memoirist, noble
Réflexions ou sentences et maximes morales [Maxims], #126 (1665-1678)
We own up to minor failings, but only so as to convince others that we have no major ones.
[Nous n’avouons de petits défauts que pour persuader que nous n’en avons pas de grands.]
François VI, duc de La Rochefoucauld (1613-1680) French epigrammatist, memoirist, noble
Réflexions ou sentences et maximes morales [Maxims], #327 (1665-1678) [tr. L. Tancock (1959)]
Alt. trans.: "We confess to little faults only to persuade ourselves that we have no great ones."
Mediocre minds dismiss anything which reaches beyond their own understanding.
François VI, duc de La Rochefoucauld (1613-1680) French epigrammatist, memoirist, noble
Réflexions ou sentences et maximes morales [Maxims], #375 (1665-1678)
Everyone complains of his memory, but no one complains of his judgment.
[Tout le monde se plaint de sa mémoire, et personne ne se plaint de son jugement.]
François VI, duc de La Rochefoucauld (1613-1680) French epigrammatist, memoirist, noble
Réflexions ou sentences et maximes morales [Reflections; or Sentences and Moral Maxims], ¶89 (1665-1678)
First appeared in the 2nd (1666) edition. The written manuscript adds "because everyone believes they have a lot of it."
(Source (French)). Alternate translations:Every body complains for want of Memory; but you never find any body complain of the Weakness of his Judgment.
[tr. Stanhope (1694), ¶90]Every one complains of the badness of his memory, but nobody of his judgment.
[pub. Donaldson (1783), ¶263; ed. Lepoittevin-Lacroix (1797), ¶86]Of the want of memory every one complains;, but nobody of the want of judgment.
[ed. Carvill (1835), ¶263]Every one complains of his memory, and no one complains of his judgment.
[ed. Gowens (1851), ¶92]Everyone blames his memory, no one blames his judgment.
[tr. Bund/Friswell (1871), ¶89]Everyone blames his memory, no one his judgment.
[tr. Heard (1917), ¶89]Everyone finds fault with his memory, but none with his judgement.
[tr. Stevens (1939), ¶89]Everyone complains of his memory, none of his judgment.
[tr. FitzGibbon (1957), ¶89]Everyone complains of his memory and no one complains of his judgment.
[tr. Kronenberger (1959), ¶89]Everybody complains of his memory, but nobody of his judgment.
[tr. Tancock (1959), ¶89]Everybody complains of his memory; but when did you ever hear anybody complain about his judgement?
[tr. Whichello (2016), ¶89]
In most men love of justice is only fear of suffering injustice.
[L’amour de la justice n’est en la plupart des hommes que la crainte de souffrir l’injustice.]
François VI, duc de La Rochefoucauld (1613-1680) French epigrammatist, memoirist, noble
Réflexions ou sentences et maximes morales [Reflections; or Sentences and Moral Maxims], ¶78 (1665-1678) [tr. Tancock (1959)]
(Source)
This is thought to be a summary of the two maxims given at the bottom. When first recorded by La Rochefoucauld, it also lacked the qualifier "in most men [en la plupart des hommes]."
(Source (French)). Alternate translations:In the greatest part of men, [the Love of Justice] is only a fear of suffering injustice.
[tr. Davies (1669), ¶39]What the Generality of People call the Love of Justice, is only the Fear of suffering by Injustice.
[tr. Stanhope (1694), ¶79]The love of justice in most men, is the fear of suffering by injustice.
[pub. Donaldson (1783), ¶264]The love of Justice, in most men, is the fear of suffering by injustice.
[ed. Lepoittevin-Lacroix (1797), ¶75]The love of justice often means no more than the fear of suffering by injustice.
[ed. Carvill (1835), ¶452]Love of justice in the generality of men is only the fear of suffering from injustice.
[ed. Gowens (1851), ¶84]The love of justice is simply in the majority of men the fear of suffering injustice.
[tr. Bund/Friswell (1871), ¶78]In most men love of justice is but the fear of suffering injustice.
[tr. Heard (1917), ¶78]Love of justice is in most cases merely fear of suffering injustice.
[tr. Stevens (1939), ¶78]For most men the love of justice is only the fear of suffering injustice.
[tr. FitzGibbon (1957), ¶78]Love of justice, in most men, is only a fear of encountering injustice.
[tr. Kronenberger (1959), ¶78]Love of justice in most men is merely the fear of suffering injustice.
[tr. Whichello (2016), ¶78]
La Rochefoucauld seems to have distilled the following two maxims down into what became ¶78 in later editions:
¶578 (¶78 in 1665 ed.):Justice is no more than a lively fear that our belongings will be taken away from us. This is at the root of men's consideration and respect for all the interests of others, and their scrupulous care never to do them wrong. This fear keeps a man within the bounds marked out for him by his birth or fortune, and without it he would constantly be encroaching on the rights of others.
[tr. Tancock (1959)]
[La justice n’est qu’une vive appréhension qu’on ne nous ôte ce qui nous appartient ; de là vient cette considération et ce respect pour tous les intérêts du prochain, et cette scrupuleuse application à ne lui faire aucun préjudice. Cette crainte retient l’homme dans les bornes des biens que la naissance ou la fortune lui ont donnés ; et sans cette crainte, il feroit des courses continuelles sur les autres.]
(Source)
¶580 (¶90 in 1665 ed.):People hate injustice not through distaste for it but because of the harm it does them.
[tr. Tancock (1959)]
[On blâme l’injustice, non pas par l’aversion que l’on a pour elle, mais pour le préjudice que l’on en reçoit.]
(Source)
Behind many acts that are thought ridiculous there lie wise and weighty motives.
[Il y a une infinité de conduites qui paraissent ridicules, et dont les raisons cachées sont très sages et très solides.]
François VI, duc de La Rochefoucauld (1613-1680) French epigrammatist, memoirist, noble
(Attributed)