“The moderation of weak men is mediocrity.”

— 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.”

“Let whatever appears to be the best be to you an inviolable law.”

“Lord, what fools these mortals be!”

“All that glisters is not gold.”

“Uneasy lies the head that wears a crown.”

“And one man in his time plays many parts.”

“Give every man thy ear, but few thy voice.”