JEAN FRANCOIS PAUL DE GONDI

The most mistrustful are often the greatest dupes.

It's easier to fight one's enemies than to get on with one's friends.

In a major matter no details are small.

One of man's greatest failings is that he looks almost always for an excuse, in the misfortune that befalls him through his own fault, before looking for a remedy-which means he often finds the remedy too late.

A man who never trusts himself never trusts anyone.

Timorous minds are much more inclined to deliberate than to resolve.

Where princes are concerned, a man who is able to do good is as dangerous and almost as criminal as a man who intends to do evil.

The man who can own up to his error is greater than he who merely knows how to avoid making it.

Most men only commit great crimes because of their scruples about petty ones.

Great men help dazzle the people; after that, they dazzle themselves even more dangerously.

Nothing sways the stupid more than arguments they can't understand.

It is even more damaging for a minister to say foolish things than to do them.

A man who does not trust himself will never really trust anybody.

Weak souls always set to work at the wrong time.

Timorous minds are much more inclined to deliberate than to resolve.

It's easier to fight one's enemies than to get on with one's friends.

Persecution to persons in a high rank stands them in the stead of eminent virtue.

Where princes are concerned, a man who is able to do good is as dangerous and almost as criminal as a man who intends to do evil.

One of man's greatest failings is that he looks almost always for an excuse, in the misfortune that befalls him through his own fault, before looking for a remedy-which means he often finds the remedy too late.

Nothing indicates the soundness of a man's judgment so much as knowing how to choose between two disadvantages.

Every numerous assembly is a mob; everything there depends on instantaneous turns.

A man who never trusts himself never trusts anyone.

What is necessary is never a risk.

The most mistrustful are often the greatest dupes.

She knew how to trust people... a rare quality, revealing a character far above average.

Great men help dazzle the people; after that, they dazzle themselves even more dangerously.

In a major matter no details are small.

Of all the passions, fear weakens judgment most.

If you have to make an unpopular speech, give it all the sincerity you can muster; that's the only way to sweeten it.

There are no small steps in great affairs.

Every man whom chance alone has, by some accident, made a public character, hardly ever fails of becoming, in a short time, a ridiculous private one.

Weakness has many stages. There is a difference between feebleness by the impotency of the will, of the will to the resolution, of the resolution to the choice of means, of the choice of the means to the application.

Most men only commit great crimes because of their scruples about petty ones.

When you are obliged to make a statement that you know will cause displeasure, you must say it with every appearance of sincerity; this is the only way to make it palatable.

The man who can own up to his error is greater than he who merely knows how to avoid making it.