Memoirs of Jean Francois Paul de Gondi, Cardinal de Retz Part 18

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Always judged of actions by men, and never men by their actions Always to sacrifice the little affairs to the greater Arms which are not tempered by laws quickly become anarchy a.s.sociating patience with activity a.s.surrance often supplies the room of good sense Blindness that make authority to consist only in force Bounty, which, though very often secret, had the louder echo Buckingham had been in love with three Queens By the means of a hundred pistoles down, and vast promises Civil war as not powerful enough to conclude a peace Civil war is one of those complicated diseases Clergy always great examples of slavish servitude Confounded the most weighty with the most trifling Contempt--the most dangerous disease of any State Dangerous to refuse presents from one's superiors Distinguished between bad and worse, good and better Fading flowers, which are fragrant to-day and offensive tomorrow False glory and false modesty Fool in adversity and a knave in prosperity Fools yield only when they cannot help it Good news should be employed in providing against bad He weighed everything, but fixed on nothing He knew how to put a good gloss upon his failings He had not a long view of what was beyond his reach Help to blind the rest of mankind, and they even become blinder His ideas were infinitely above his capacity His wit was far inferior to his courage Impossible for her to live without being in love with somebody Inconvenience of popularity Insinuation is of more service than that of persuasion Is there a greater in the world than heading a party?

Kinds of fear only to be removed by higher degrees of terror Laws without the protection of arms sink into contempt Man that supposed everybody had a back door Maxims showed not great regard for virtue Mazarin: embezzling some nine millions of the public money Men of irresolution are apt to catch at all overtures More ambitious than was consistent with morality My utmost to save other souls, though I took no care of my own Need of caution in what we say to our friends Neither capable of governing nor being governed Never had woman more contempt for scruples and ceremonies Nothing is so subject to delusion as piety Oftener deceived by distrusting than by being overcredulous One piece of bad news seldom comes singly Only way to acquire them is to show that we do not value them Pa.s.sed for the author of events of which I was only the prophet Poverty so well became him Power commonly keeps above ridicule Pretended to a great deal more wit than came to his share Queen was adored much more for her troubles than for her merit She had nothing but beauty, which cloys when it comes alone So indiscreet as to boast of his successful amours Strongest may safely promise to the weaker what he thinks fit The subdivision of parties is generally the ruin of all The wisest fool he ever saw in his life Those who carry more sail than ballast Thought he always stood in need of apologies Transitory honour is mere smoke Treated him as she did her petticoat Useful man in a faction because of his wonderful complacency Vanity to love to be esteemed the first author of things Verily believed he was really the man which he affected to be Virtue for a man to confess a fault than not to commit one We are far more moved at the hearing of old stories Weakening and changing the laws of the land Who imagine the head of a party to be their master Whose vivacity supplied the want of judgment Wisdom in affairs of moment is nothing without courage With a design to do good, he did evil Yet he gave more than he promised You must know that, with us Princes, words go for nothing