“That man is good who does good to others; if he suffers on account of the good he does, he is very good”

— Jean de La Bruyère, book Les Caractères

Aphorism 44
Les Caractères (1688), Du mérite personnel
Context: That man is good who does good to others; if he suffers on account of the good he does, he is very good; if he suffers at the hands of those to whom he has done good, then his goodness is so great that it could be enhanced only by greater sufferings; and if he should die at their hands, his virtue can go no further: it is heroic, it is perfect.

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Jean de La Bruyère65

17th-century French writer and philosopher 1645–1696

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General sources

“That man is good who does good to others; if he suffers on account of the good he does, he is very good”

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Jean de La Bruyère65

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