Good as Evil's Cover
Francois de La Rochefoucauld
MaximsA confession regarding the strategic use of morality, where good deeds are performed to provide cover for future misconduct.
We frequently do good to enable us with impunity to do evil.
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Love's Smallest Fault
Francois de La Rochefoucauld
MaximsThe author observes that for women who commit themselves to passion, the act of loving is actually the least of the complications or faults that follow.
The smallest fault of women who give themselves up to love is to love.
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Vice's Homage
Francois de La Rochefoucauld
MaximsA famous observation that the outward practice of virtue by the wicked is an involuntary acknowledgment of virtue's inherent value and power.
Hypocrisy is the homage vice pays to virtue. [So Massillon, in one of his sermons, "Vice pays homage to virtue in doing honour to her appearance." So Junius, writing to the Duke of Grafton, says, "You have done as much mischief to the community as Machiavel, if Machiavel had not known that an appearance of morals and religion are useful in society."--28 Sept.
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Pride's False Cover
Francois de La Rochefoucauld
MaximsThe author posits that humility is the essential foundation of virtue, without which our faults are merely hidden by pride rather than truly corrected.
Humility is the true proof of Christian virtues; without it we retain all our faults, and they are only covered by pride to hide them from others, and often from ourselves.
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Hidden Motives' Shame
Francois de La Rochefoucauld
MaximsA confession that human morality is often a facade, suggesting that our most noble deeds are frequently driven by shameful hidden motives.
We should often be ashamed of our very best actions if the world only saw the motives which caused them.
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