Charles Maurice de Talleyrand
Speech was given to man to disguise his thoughts.
Since the masses are always eager to believe something, for their benefit nothing is so easy to arrange as facts.
If we go on explaining we shall cease to understand one another.
The art of statesmanship is to foresee the inevitable and to expedite its occurrence.
Show me another pleasure like dinner which comes every day and lasts an hour.
Love of glory can only create a great hero; contempt of glory creates a great man.
She is such a good friend that she would throw all her acquaintances into the water for the pleasure of fishing them out again.
I am more afraid of an army of 100 sheep led by a lion than an army of 100 lions led by a sheep.
Too much sensibility creates unhappiness and too much insensibility creates crime.
The bold defiance of a woman is the certain sign of her shame, - when she has once ceased to blush, it is because she has too much to blush for.
What clever man has ever needed to commit a crime? Crime is the last resort of political half-wits.
Without freedom of the press, there can be no representative government.
To succeed in the world, it is much more necessary to possess the penetration to discern who is a fool, than to discover who is a clever man.
Mistrust first impulses; they are nearly always good.
Ones reputation is like a shadow, it is gigantic when it precedes you, and a pigmy in proportion when it follows.
A court is an assembly of noble and distinguished beggars.
Merit, however inconsiderable, should be sought for and rewarded. Methods are the master of masters.
The reputation of a man is like his shadow, gigantic when it precedes him, and pigmy in its proportions when it follows.
Society is divided into two classes: the shearers and the shorn. We should always be with the former against the latter.Collection: Class
A woman will sometimes forgive the man who tries to seduce her, but never the man who misses an opportunity when offered.Collection: Women
Never speak ill of yourself, your friends will always say enough on that subject.Collection: Speak
Politics is the systematic cultivation of hatred.Collection: Hatred
If you wish to be popular in society consent to be taught many things you already know.Collection: Wish
I found there a country with thirty-two religions and only one sauce.Collection: Country
Only a man who has loved a woman of genius can appreciate what happiness there is in loving a fool.Collection: Men
God gave humans language so they could conceal their thoughts from one another.Collection: Language
An important art of politicians is to find new names for institutions which under old names have become odious to the public.Collection: Art
Regimes may fall and fail, but I do not.Collection: Fall
What I have been taught, I have forgotten; what I know, I have guessed.Collection: Taught
The art of putting the right men in the right places is first in the science of government; but that of finding places for the discontented is the most difficult.Collection: Art
A clever woman often compromises her husband; a stupid woman only compromises herself.Collection: Clever
A married man with a family will do anything for money.Collection: Family
In order to avoid being called a flirt, she always yielded easily.Collection: Sarcastic
There is one person that is wiser than anybody, and that is everybody.Collection: Wiser
The rich man despises those who flatter him too much, and hates those who do not flatter him at all.Collection: Hate
In a novel, the author gives the leading character intelligence and distinction. Fate goes to less trouble: mediocrities play a part in great events simply from happening to be there.Collection: Writing
Those who have not lived in the eighteenth century, in the years before the Revolution do not know the sweetness of living and cannot imagine what it was like to have happiness in life.Collection: Years
Beauty, devoid of grace, is a mere hook without the bait.Collection: Grace
There are many people who have the gift, or failing, of never understanding themselves. I have been unlucky enough, or perhaps fortunate enough to have received the opposite gift.Collection: Failure
Speech has been given to man to disguise his thoughts.Collection: Men
Women sometimes forgive a man who forces the opportunity, but never a man who misses ones.Collection: Men
Wherever there's trouble, look for a priest.Collection: Looks
Nothing succeeds so well as success.Collection: Success
Suave molecules of Mocha stir up your blood, without causing excess heat; the organ of thought receives from it a feeling of sympathy; work becomes easier and you will sit down without distress to your principal repast which will restore your body and afford you a calm, delicious night.Collection: Coffee
I know where there is more wisdom than is found in Napoleon, Voltaire, or all the ministers present and to come - in public opinion.Collection: Public Opinion
Methods are the masters of masters.Collection: Masters
Espresso is to Italy, what champagne is to France.Collection: Coffee
Love is a reality which is born in the fairy region of romance.Collection: Love