Novelty and Custom's Blindness
Francois de La Rochefoucauld
Maxims

The author argues that both the excitement of newness and the comfort of long-standing habit serve to blind us to the shortcomings of our friends.

The charm of novelty and old custom, however opposite to each other, equally blind us to the faults of our friends.
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Unconscious Boredom
Francois de La Rochefoucauld
Maxims

The author notes the irony that we are most likely to be tedious to others precisely when we are most confident in our own charm.

We often bore others when we think we cannot possibly bore them.
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The Illusion of Extremes
Francois de La Rochefoucauld
Maxims

This insight suggests that human perception tends to exaggerate both our joys and our miseries beyond their actual reality.

We are never so happy or so unhappy as we suppose.
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Virtue's Glittering Defects
Francois de La Rochefoucauld
Maxims

This insight explores how certain personal flaws can be presented so effectively that they are mistaken for virtuous qualities.

There are certain defects which well mounted glitter like virtue itself.
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Judgment as Light
Francois de La Rochefoucauld
Maxims

The author argues that judgment is not a separate faculty from the mind, but rather the depth and clarity of the mind's own light.

We are deceived if we think that mind and judgment are two different matters: judgment is but the extent of the light of the mind. This light penetrates to the bottom of matters; it remarks all that can be remarked, and perceives what appears imperceptible. Therefore we must agree that it is the extent of the light in the mind that produces all the effects which we attribute to judgment.
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