Chamfort Manureva Quotes

Conscience is a dog that does not stop us from passing but that we cannot prevent from barking. ~ Nicolas Chamfort

In a country where everyone is trying to be noticed, it is better to be bankrupt than to be nothing. ~ Nicolas Chamfort

The sunset glow of self-possession. ~ Nicolas Chamfort

Hope is but a charlatan that ceases not to deceive us. For myself happiness only began when I had lost it. ~ Nicolas Chamfort

One can be certain that every generally held idea, every received notion, will be an idiocy, because it has been able to appeal to a majority. ~ Nicolas Chamfort

People are governed by the head; a kind heart is of little value in chess. ~ Nicolas Chamfort

Every day I add to the list of things I refuse to discuss. The wiser the man, the longer the list. ~ Nicolas Chamfort

In great affairs men show themselves as they wish to be seen, in small things they show themselves as they are ~ Nicolas Chamfort

Whoever is not a misanthrope at forty can never have loved mankind. ~ Nicolas Chamfort

Tis easier to make certain things legal than to make them legitimate. ~ Nicolas Chamfort

A good number of works owe their success to the mediocrity of their authors' ideas, which match the mediocrity of those of the general public. ~ Nicolas Chamfort

A man without nobility cannot have kindliness; he can only have good nature. ~ Nicolas Chamfort

The majority of the books of our time give one the impression of having been manufactured in a day out of books read the day before. ~ Nicolas Chamfort

Most of those who make collections of verse or epigram are like men eating cherries or oysters: they choose out the best at first, and end by eating all. ~ Nicolas Chamfort

When a man and a woman have an overwhelming passion for each other, it seems to me, in spite of such obstacles dividing them as parents or husband, that they belong to each other in the name of Nature, and are lovers by Divine right, in spite of human convention or the laws. ~ Nicolas Chamfort

An economist is a surgeon with an excellent scalpel and a rough-edged lancet, who operates beautifully on the dead and tortures the living. ~ Nicolas Chamfort

If a woman were about to proceed to her execution, she would demand a little time to perfect her toilet. ~ Nicolas Chamfort

Someone described Providence as the baptismal name of chance; no doubt some pious person will retort that chance is the nickname of Providence. ~ Nicolas Chamfort

Sometimes apparent resemblance of character will bring two men together and for a certain time unite them. But their mistake gradually becomes evident, and they are astonished to find themselves not only far apart, but even repelled, in some sort, at all their points of contact. ~ Nicolas Chamfort

People are governed with the head; kindness of heart is little use in chess. ~ Nicolas Chamfort

Living is a sickness to which sleep provides relief every sixteen hours. It's a palliative. The remedy is death. ~ Nicolas Chamfort

Vain is equivalent to empty; thus vanity is so miserable a thing, that one cannot give it a worse name than its own. It proclaims itself for what it is. ~ Nicolas Chamfort

Secrecy is best taught by starting with ourselves. ~ Nicolas Chamfort

His passions make man live, his wisdom merely makes him last. ~ Nicolas Chamfort

Though we best know and cannot deny our imperfections, it is not for us to lose our self-reliance and true manhood. ~ Nicolas Chamfort

We need to be just before we are generous, as we need shirts before ruffles. ~ Nicolas Chamfort

A fool who has a flash of wit creates astonishment and scandal, like hack-horses setting out to gallop. ~ Nicolas Chamfort

What one knows best is ... what one has learned not from books but as a result of books, through the reflections to which they have given rise. ~ Nicolas Chamfort

There are more fools than wise men, and even in a wise man there is more folly than wisdom. ~ Nicolas Chamfort

Anyone whose needs are small seems threatening to the rich, because he's always ready to escape their control. ~ Nicolas Chamfort

The poor are the blacks of Europe. ~ Nicolas Chamfort

If we would please in society, we must be prepared to be taught many things we know already by people who do not know them. ~ Nicolas Chamfort