Reflections or Sentences and Moral Maxims By Francois Duc De La Rochefoucauld, Prince de Marsillac. NEW Complete Edition A Complete World Classic Translated from the Editions of 1678 and 1827 with introduction, notes, and some account of the author and his times by J. W. Willis Bund, M.A. LL.B and J. Hain Friswell "As Rochefoucauld his maxims drew From Nature--I believe them true. They argue no corrupted mind In him; the fault is in mankind."--Swift. "Les Maximes de la Rochefoucauld sont des proverbs des gens d'esprit."--Montesquieu. "Maxims are the condensed good sense of nations."--Sir J. Mackintosh. "Translators should not work alone; for good Et Propria Verba do not always occur to one mind."--Luther's Table Talk, iii.

The philosophy of La Rochefoucauld, which influenced French intellectuals as diverse as Voltaire and the Jansenists, is captured here in more than 600 penetrating and pithy aphorisms.

"[...]stood at the font as sponsor, giving his name to that last light of French chivalry, Francis I. In 1515 he was created a baron, and was afterwards advanced to a count, on account of his great service to Francis and his predecessors. The second count pushed the family fortune still further by obtaining a patent as the Prince de Marsillac. His widow, Anne de Polignac, entertained Charles V. at the family chateau at Verteuil, in so princely a manner that on leaving Charles observed, "He had never entered a house so redolent of high virtue, uprightness, and lordliness as that mansion." [...]."

Of all the French epigrammatic writers La Rochefou- cauld is at once the most widely known, and the most distinguished. Voltaire, whose opinion on the cen- tury of Louis XIV. is entitled to the greatest weight, says, “One of the works that most largely contributed to form the taste of the nation, and to diffuse a spirit of justice and precision, is the collection of maxims, by Francois Duc de la Rochefoucauld.”This Francois, the second Duc de la Rochefoucauld, Prince de Marsillac, the author of the maxims, was one of the most illustrious members of the most illus- trious families among the French noblesse.

They argue no corrupted mind In him; the fault is in mankind."--Swift."Les Maximes de la Rochefoucauld sont des proverbs des gens d'esprit."--Montesquieu."Maxims are the condensed good sense of nations."--Sir J. Mackintosh."Translators should not work alone; for good Et Propria Verba do not always occur to one mind."--Luther's Table Talk, iii.

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