Quotes from Francois de La Rochefoucauld

Philosophy easily triumphs over past and future ills; but present ills triumph over philosophy.

True love is like ghosts, which everyone talks about and few have seen.

Absence diminishes mediocre passions and increases great ones, as the wind extinguishes candles and fans fires.

What makes lovers never tire of one another is that they talk always about themselves.

We love those who admire us, but not those whom we admire.

We are nearer loving those who hate us than those who love us more than we wish.

True love is like ghosts, which everybody talks about and few have seen.

There are few people who are not ashamed of their love affairs when the infatuation is over.

There is no disguise that can for long conceal love where it exists or simulate it where it does not.

The more one loves a mistress, the more one is ready to hate her.

A true friend is the greatest of all blessings, and that which we take the least care to acquire.