“All men want to be different, and to be greater than they are; they seek for an air other than their own, and a mind different from what they possess; they take their style and manner at chance. They make experiments upon themselves without considering that what suits one person will not suit everyone, that there is no universal rule for taste or manners, and that there are no good copies.”

Reflections on Various Subjects (1665–1678), VII. On Air and Manner

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François de La Rochefoucauld156

French author of maxims and memoirs 1613–1680

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