The generality of virtuous women are like hidden treasures, they are safe only because nobody has sought after them.
Francois De La RochefoucauldRead
Ridicule dishonors a man more than dishonor does.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Ridicule can be more damaging to a person's honor than the act of dishonor itself.
This quote by Francois De La Rochefoucauld suggests that being ridiculed can undermine a person's dignity and self-respect more severely than the act of dishonor. It points to the social and psychological implications of ridicule, highlighting how societal judgment and mockery can affect an individual's sense of worth and honor in profound ways.
Themes
RidiculeDishonorHonorDignitySocial JudgmentSelf-Respect
In practice
Example use cases
During a discussion about the effects of bullying, one might quote this to emphasize the pain caused by mockery.
More from Francois De La Rochefoucauld
All quotes βOld men delight in giving good advice as a consolation for the fact that they can no longer set bad examples.
Francois De La RochefoucauldRead
Some counterfeits reproduce so very well the truth that it would be a flaw of judgment not to be deceived by them.
Francois De La RochefoucauldRead
Conceit causes more conversation than wit.
Francois De La RochefoucauldRead
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.
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.
Francois De La RochefoucauldRead
Similar quotes
Science will never be able to reduce the value of a sunset to arithmetic. Nor can it reduce friendship to formula. Laughter and love, pain and loneliness, the challenge of beauty and truth: these will always surpass the scientific mastery of nature.
Louis OrrRead
Know that when you seek anything of your own, you will never find God, because you do not seek God purely. You are seeking something along with God, and you are acting just as if you were to make a candle out of God in order to look for something with it. Once one finds the things one is looking for, one throws the candle away. This is what you are doing.
Meister EckhartRead
It is fateful and ironic how the lie we need in order to live dooms us to a life that is never really ours.
Ernest BeckerRead
My,' she said. 'We're lucky that you found the place.' We're always lucky,' I said and like a fool I did not knock on wood. There was wood everywhere in that apartment to knock on too.
Ernest HemingwayRead
In the course of history many more people have died for their drink and their dope than have died for their religion or their country.
Aldous HuxleyRead
Speak about Christ only when you are asked. But live so that people ask about Christ!
Paul ClaudelRead