“Mercy is of greater value than justice.”

— 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.”

“All becoming and growing—all that guarantees a future—involves pain.”

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

“Let us forget and forgive injuries.”

“The time for the healing of the wounds has come.”

“Pass by us, and forgive us our happiness.”

“On our earth we can only love with suffering and through suffering.”