“We should keep silent about those in power; to speak well of them almost implies flattery; to speak ill of them while they are alive is dangerous, and when they are dead is cowardly.”

—  Jean de La Bruyère , book Les Caractères

L'on doit se taire sur les puissants: il y a presque toujours de la flatterie à en dire du bien; il y a du péril à en dire du mal pendant qu'ils vivent, et de la lâcheté quand ils sont morts.
Aphorism 56
Les Caractères (1688), Des grands

Original

L'on doit se taire sur les puissants: il y a presque toujours de la flatterie à en dire du bien; il y a du péril à en dire du mal pendant qu'ils vivent, et de la lâcheté quand ils sont morts.

Les Caractères (1688), Des grands

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Jean de La Bruyère photo
Jean de La Bruyère 65
17th-century French writer and philosopher 1645–1696

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