“He who knows how to suffer everything can dare everything.”

— Vauvenargues, Reflections and Maxims (1746), tr. E. Lee (1903)

About Vauvenargues

1715 – 1747

French moralist, author of "Reflections and Maxims" (1746).

“Patience is the art of hoping.”

“Necessity relieves us from the embarrassment of choice.”

“Those who continually slander, rarely do injury: they imagine more evil than they can accomplish.”

“There is always a philosophy for lack of courage.”

“The superior man thinks of virtue; the small man thinks of comfort.”

“It takes courage to love, but pain through love is the purifying fire which those who love generously know.”

“He who has begun has half done. Dare to be wise; begin!”

“The experience of danger creates more cowards every day.”

“Who knows? Better times may come to those in pain.”