La Rochefoucauld
French aphorist duke
François de La Rochefoucauld (1613–1680) was a French aristocrat and writer best known for his *Maximes*, a collection of epigrammatic observations on human nature.
His aphorisms are cynical and polished, exposing self-interest beneath virtuous appearances: We all have strength enough to endure the misfortunes of others.
The name often stands for this style of worldly, disillusioned insight.
- aphorismTerse general truth
- vanityExcessive pride in oneself
- amour-propreOne's sense of worth
- moralistOne preaching right conduct
- maximBrief moral principle
nobility · Louis XIV · hypocrisy · egoism · salon · Pascal · self-love · courtier · memoir · reflection · Voltaire · cynicism · introspection · honesty · paradox · wit · brevity · French
- AphoristsSeneca, Marcus Aurelius, Confucius, Lao Tzu, Pascal
- Baroque Era FiguresDescartes, Spinoza, Leibniz, Locke, Hobbes
- French AuthorsVictor Hugo, Jules Verne, Voltaire, Jean-Paul Sartre, Albert Camus
- French ThinkersDescartes, Sartre, Foucault, Voltaire, Rousseau
- French WritersVictor Hugo, Hugo, Jules Verne, Verne, Voltaire
- Titled WritersLord Byron, Sir Walter Scott
La RochefoucauldJean-Jacques Rousseau
Ralph Waldo Emerson · optimist · idealist · Leibniz · Walt Whitman
La RochefoucauldMarcus Aurelius
Stoic emperor of Rome
naïf · sentimentalist · Dale Carnegie · Seneca · Thomas More