“If we had no faults, we should not take so much pleasure in noting those of others.”

—  François de La Rochefoucauld, book Reflections; or Sentences and Moral Maxims

Si nous n'avions point de défauts, nous ne prendrions pas tant de plaisir à en remarquer dans les autres.
Maxim 31.
Reflections; or Sentences and Moral Maxims (1665–1678)

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François de La Rochefoucauld photo
François de La Rochefoucauld156
French author of maxims and memoirs 1613–1680

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François de La Rochefoucauld book Reflections; or Sentences and Moral Maxims

L’extrême plaisir que nous prenons à parler de nous-mêmes nous doit faire craindre de n’en donner guere à ceux qui nous écoutent.
Translation by E.H. Blackmore et. al., in Collected Maxims and Other Reflections, de La Rochefoucauld, Oxford University Press (2008) : ISBN 019162313X
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