“It is the greatest of all weaknesses to be too afraid of appearing weak.”

— Jacques-Bénigne Bossuet, Politics Drawn from the Very Words of Holy Scripture, 1709

About Jacques-Bénigne Bossuet

1627 – 1704

French bishop and court preacher under Louis XIV.

“The greatest weakness of all weaknesses is to fear too much to appear weak.”

“The world itself makes you sick of the world.”

“Faith is an adherence of the heart to eternal truth.”

“When in doubt, tell the truth.”

“Do not worry about your difficulties in Mathematics. I can assure you mine are still greater.”

“I never "worry" about action, but only about inaction.”

“The superior man has neither anxiety nor fear.”

“Gratitude looks to the past and love to the present; fear, avarice, lust, and ambition look ahead.”

“When I became a man I put away childish things, including the fear of childishness.”