“We are eager to believe that others are flawed because we are eager to believe in what we wish for.”

—  François de La Rochefoucauld

Ce qui nous fait croire si facilement que les autres ont des défauts, c'est la facilité que l'on a de croire ce qu'on souhaite.
Variant translation: What makes us believe so easily that others have faults is the ease with which we believe what we hope for.
Maxim 25 from the Manuscrit de Liancourt.
Later Additions to the Maxims

Original

Ce qui nous fait croire si facilement que les autres ont des défauts, c'est la facilité que l'on a de croire ce qu'on souhaite.

Later Additions to the Maxims

Adopted from Wikiquote. Last update June 3, 2021. History

Help us to complete the source, original and additional information

Do you have more details about the quote "We are eager to believe that others are flawed because we are eager to believe in what we wish for." by François de La Rochefoucauld?
François de La Rochefoucauld photo
François de La Rochefoucauld 156
French author of maxims and memoirs 1613–1680

Related quotes

William Saroyan photo

“I believe in my work and am eager for others to know about it.”

William Saroyan (1908–1981) American writer

My Heart's in the Highlands (1939)

“The objective of our religious foundations is to teach people that they are hurting themselves when they say they believe something. What we should realize is we know almost nothing about God and therefore we should be eager to search and to learn.”

John Marks Templeton (1912–2008) stock investor, businessman and philanthropist

The Quotable Sir John

Neal Shusterman photo

“Wars are often waged not because of what we believe, but because of the things we want others to believe.”

Neal Shusterman book Everfound

Source: Everfound

Thomas Fuller (writer) photo

“5426. We are apt to believe what we wish for.”

Thomas Fuller (writer) (1654–1734) British physician, preacher, and intellectual

Introductio ad prudentiam: Part II (1727), Gnomologia (1732)

Edward Young photo

“What ardently we wish we soon believe.”

Edward Young Night-Thoughts

Source: Night-Thoughts (1742–1745), Night VII, Line 1311.

Lyndon B. Johnson photo

“If we succeed, it will not be because of what we have, but it will be because of what we are; not because of what we own, but, rather because of what we believe. For we are a nation of believers. Underneath the clamor of building and the rush of our day's pursuits, we are believers in justice and liberty and union, and in our own Union. We believe that every man must someday be free. And we believe in ourselves.”

Lyndon B. Johnson (1908–1973) American politician, 36th president of the United States (in office from 1963 to 1969)

1960s, Inaugural address (1965)
Context: In each generation, with toil and tears, we have had to earn our heritage again. If we fail now, we shall have forgotten in abundance what we learned in hardship: that democracy rests on faith, that freedom asks more than it gives, and that the judgment of God is harshest on those who are most favored. If we succeed, it will not be because of what we have, but it will be because of what we are; not because of what we own, but, rather because of what we believe. For we are a nation of believers. Underneath the clamor of building and the rush of our day's pursuits, we are believers in justice and liberty and union, and in our own Union. We believe that every man must someday be free. And we believe in ourselves.

John Dryden photo

“With how much ease believe we what we wish!”

John Dryden All for Love

Cleopatra in Act IV, scene I
All for Love (1678)

Thomas Gilovich photo

“What we believe is heavily influenced by what we think others believe”

Thomas Gilovich (1954) American psychologist

Source: How We Know What Isn't So: The Fallibility of Human Reason in Everyday Life

Charles Spurgeon photo

“When men's hearts are melted under the preaching of the word, or by sickness, or the loss of friends, believers should be very eager to stamp the truth upon the prepared mind. Such opportunities are to be seized with holy eagerness.”

Charles Spurgeon (1834–1892) British preacher, author, pastor and evangelist

Source: Dictionary of Burning Words of Brilliant Writers (1895), P. 129.

Heber J. Grant photo

“No matter in what land we may dwell the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ makes us brothers and sisters, interested in each other, eager to understand and know each other.”

Heber J. Grant (1856–1945) President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

Grant (1932) "Christmas Greetings from the First Presidency," Improvement Era Dec. 1932, 67.; Cited in " Heber J. Grant, Served 1918–1945 http://www.lds.org/churchhistory/presidents/controllers/potcController.jsp?leader=7&topic=quotes" on ids.org

Related topics