“It is easier to be wise for others than for oneself.”

— François de La Rochefoucauld, Reflections; or Sentences and Moral Maxims, Maxim 132, 1665–1678

About François de La Rochefoucauld

1613 – 1680

French moralist, author of the "Maxims" (1665).

“Perfect courage is to do without witnesses what one would be capable of doing with the world looking on.”

“Our virtues are most frequently but vices in disguise.”

“Self-love is the greatest of all flatterers.”

“Knowing others is intelligence; knowing yourself is true wisdom.”

“One must learn to know oneself before knowing anything else.”

“Wouldst thou other men know, look thou within thine own heart.”

“Be not wise in thine own eyes, fear the Lord and shun evil.”

“To know one's self, one must go all the way to horror.”

“Extreme pride or dejection indicates extreme ignorance of self.”