Jean de la Bruyere

“All men's misfortunes spring from their hatred of being alone.”

“All of our unhappiness comes from our inability to be alone.”

“We perceive when love begins and when it declines by our embarrassment when alone together.”

“At the beginning and at the end of love, the two lovers are embarrassed to find themselves alone.”

“It's motive alone which gives character to the actions of men.”

“We can recognize the dawn and the decline of love by the uneasiness we feel when alone together.”

“Man has but three events in his life: to be born, to live, and to die. He is not conscious of his birth, he suffers at his death and he forgets to live.”

“If some persons died, and others did not die, death would be a terrible affliction.”

“The passion of hatred is so long lived and so obstinate a malady that the surest sign of death in a sick person is their desire for reconciliation.”

“There are only three events in a man's life birth, life, and death he is not conscious of being born, he dies in pain, and he forgets to live.”

“The regeneration of society is the regeneration of society by individual education.”

“The wise person often shuns society for fear of being bored.”

“We must laugh before we are happy, for fear of dying without having laughed at all.”

“We should laugh before being happy, for fear of dying without having laughed.”

“Time makes friendship stronger, but love weaker.”

“Love and friendship exclude each other.”

“Children have neither a past nor a future. Thus they enjoy the present, which seldom happens to us.”

“Children enjoy the present because they have neither a past nor a future.”

“Grief at the absence of a loved one is happiness compared to life with a person one hates.”

“Avoid lawsuits beyond all things they pervert your conscience, impair your health, and dissipate your property.”

“The sweetest of all sounds is that of the voice of the woman we love.”

“Marriage, it seems, confines every man to his proper rank.”

“It is a sad thing when men have neither the wit to speak well nor the judgment to hold their tongues.”

“There are certain things in which mediocrity is not to be endured, such as poetry, music, painting, public speaking.”