Jean de La Bruyère: Making

Jean de La Bruyère was 17th-century French writer and philosopher. Explore interesting quotes on making.
Jean de La Bruyère: 130 quotes5 likes

“Profound ignorance makes a man dogmatical”

Jean de La Bruyère book Les Caractères

76
Les Caractères (1688), De la société et de la conversation
Context: Profound ignorance makes a man dogmatical; he who knows nothing thinks he can teach others what he just now has learned himself; whilst he who knows a great deal can scarcely imagine any one should be unacquainted with what he says, and, therefore, speaks with more indifference.

“I call those men worldly, earthly, or coarse, whose hearts and minds are wholly fixed on this earth, that small part of the universe they are placed in; who value and love nothing beyond it; whose minds are as cramped as that narrow spot of ground they call their estate, of which the extent is measured, the acres are numbered, and the limits well known. I am not astonished that men who lean, as it were, on an atom, should stumble at the smallest efforts they make for discovering the truth; that, being so short-sighted, they do not reach beyond the heavens and the stars, to contemplate God Himself; that, not being able to perceive the excellency of what is spiritual, or the dignity of the soul, they should be still less sensible of the difficulty of satisfying it; how very inferior the entire world is in comparison to it; how necessary is to it an all-perfect Being, which is God; and how absolutely it needs a religion to find out that God, and to be assured of His reality. I can easily understand that incredulity or indifference are but natural to such men, that they make use of God and religion only as a piece of policy, as far as they may be conducive to the order and decorum of this world, the only thing in their opinion worth thinking of.”

Jean de La Bruyère book Les Caractères

Of Freethinkers (3)
Les Caractères (1688)

“Mischievous wags are a kind of insects which are in everybody's way and plentiful in all countries. Real wit is rarely to be met with, and even if it be innate in a man, it must be very difficult to maintain reputation for it during any length of time; for, commonly, he that makes us laugh does not stand high in our estimation.”

Jean de La Bruyère book Les Caractères

3
Les Caractères (1688), De la société et de la conversation

“There are a great many obscene minds, yet more railing and satirical, but very few fastidious ones. A man must have good manners, be very polite, and even have a great deal of originality to be able to jest gracefully and be felicitous in his remarks about trifles; to jest in such a manner and to make something out of nothing is to create.”

Jean de La Bruyère book Les Caractères

4
Les Caractères (1688), De la société et de la conversation

“Menippus is a bird decked in various feathers which are not his. He neither says nor feels anything, but repeats the feelings and sayings of others; it is so natural for him to make use of other people’s minds that he is the first deceived by it, and often believes he speaks his own mind or expresses his own thoughts when he is but the echo of some man he just parted with.”

Jean de La Bruyère book Les Caractères

Ménippe est l'oiseau paré de divers plumages qui ne sont pas à lui. Il ne parle pas, il ne sent pas; il répète des sentiments et des discours, se sert même si naturellement de l'esprit des autres qu'il y est le premier trompé, et qu'il croit souvent dire son goût ou expliquer sa pensée, lorsqu'il n'est que l'écho de quelqu'un qu'il vient de quitter.
Aphorism 40
Les Caractères (1688), Du mérite personnel

“Lofty posts make great men greater still, and small men much smaller.”

Jean de La Bruyère book Les Caractères

Ainsi les postes éminents rendent les grands hommes encore plus grands, et les petits beaucoup plus petits.
Aphorism 95
Les Caractères (1688), De l'Homme

“One seeks to make the loved one entirely happy, or, if that cannot be, entirely wretched.”

Jean de La Bruyère book Les Caractères

L'on veut faire tout le bonheur, ou si cela ne se peut ainsi, tout le malheur de ce qu'on aime.
Aphorism 39
Les Caractères (1688), Du Coeur

“Making a book is a craft, like making a clock; it needs more than native wit to be an author.”

Jean de La Bruyère book Les Caractères

C'est un métier que de faire un livre, comme de faire une pendule: il faut plus que de l'esprit pour être auteur.
Aphorism 3; Variant translation: It requires more than mere genius to be an author.
Les Caractères (1688), Des Ouvrages de l'Esprit

“Most men make use of the first part of their life to render the last part miserable.”

Jean de La Bruyère book Les Caractères

Aphorism 102
Les Caractères (1688), De l'Homme