The generality of virtuous women are like hidden treasures, they are safe only because nobody has sought after them.
Francois De La RochefoucauldRead
To understand matters rightly we should understand their details; and as that knowledge is almost infinite, our knowledge is always superficial and imperfect.
Interpretation
Understanding complex matters requires attention to details, but our limited knowledge means we can never fully grasp their entirety.
This quote from Francois De La Rochefoucauld highlights the importance of details in comprehending complex subjects. It suggests that while a deep understanding is essential for accuracy, the vastness of knowledge renders our understanding inherently limited and imperfect. It reflects on the pursuit of knowledge and the humility required in acknowledging our limitations.
In practice
In a classroom setting to discuss the importance of in-depth analysis in education.
The generality of virtuous women are like hidden treasures, they are safe only because nobody has sought after them.
Old men delight in giving good advice as a consolation for the fact that they can no longer set bad examples.
Some counterfeits reproduce so very well the truth that it would be a flaw of judgment not to be deceived by them.
Conceit causes more conversation than wit.
The defects and faults of the mind are like wounds in the body; after all imaginable care has been taken to heal them up, still there will be a scar left behind, and they are in continual danger of breaking the skin and bursting out again.
In most of mankind gratitude is merely a secret hope of further favors.
A prudent man will think more important what fate has conceded to him, than what it has denied.
It's better not to see than to see wrongly.
Very conscious of the fact that an effort was being made to destroy my mind, because I was deprived of books, deprived of any means of writing, deprived of human companionship. You never know how much you need it until you're deprived of it.
An avowal of poverty is no disgrace to any man; to make no effort to escape it is indeed disgraceful.
Exercise caution in your business affairs; for the world is full of trickery. But let this not blind you to what virtue there is; many persons strive for high ideals; and everywhere life is full of heroism. _x000D_ _x000D_ Be yourself. Especially, do not feign affection. Neither be cynical about love; for in the face of all aridity and disenchantment it is as perennial as the grass.
Greatness inspires envy, envy engenders spite, spite spawns lies.
Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.