Francois de La Rochefoucauld Quotes
What makes us so often discontented with those who transact business for us is that they almost always abandon the interest of their friends for the interest of the business, because they wish to have the honor of succeeding in that which they have undertaken.
La Rochefoucauld, François de. Reflections; or Sentences and Moral Maxims. Translated by J. W. Willis Bund and J. Hain Friswell, Sampson Low, Son, and Marston, 1871.
Referring to the people in the U. S. Congress.
Already receiving tribute for American immunity from the Barbary pirates, the Bey (provincial governor) added a provision to the tribute treaty requiring the Americans to give a barrel of gunpowder for every cannon shot fired in salute of arriving American ships. The American consuls objected saying it insulted their country’s honor:
Mises is one of the very few economic conservatives who opposed companies getting involved with lobbying or politics in any way. He, like some others, saw the negative public effect that business produces when it does get deeply involved in politics, but he uniquely observed that the businesses themselves suffered as a result of the involvement in politics. Obviously very few business leaders of the 21st century agreed with Mises’ earlier views.
Ford, then Vice President, was attending a Senate Republican policy luncheon during the Watergate crisis. The senators began discussing the possibility of sending a delegation to President Nixon, advising him to resign.
François VI, Duc de La Rochefoucauld, Prince de Marcillac was a noted French moralist and author of maxims and memoirs. He is part of the literary movement of classicism and best known for his maxims. Although he only officially published his Memoirs and his Maxims, his literary production is dense.
