Nicolas Chamfort

Public opinion reigns in society because stupidity reigns amongst the stupid.

— Nicolas Chamfort

Men whose only concern is other people's opinion of them are like actors who put on a poor performance to win the applause of people of poor taste; some of them would be capable of good acting in front of a good audience. A decent man plays his part to the best of his ability, regardless of the taste of the gallery.

— Nicolas Chamfort

Stubbornness equals character roughly as lust equals love.

— Nicolas Chamfort

[Prudence] replaces [strength] by saving the man who has the misfortune of not possessing it from most occasions when it's needed.

— Nicolas Chamfort

The perfect man … is in a well-lit area watching the foolish antics of people stumbling around in the dark. He can demolish with a laugh the false standards and judgments which others apply to people and things.

— Nicolas Chamfort

A good number of works owe their success to the mediocrity of their authors' ideas, which match the mediocrity of those of the general public.

— Nicolas Chamfort

I once read that there's nothing worse for everyone concerned than a reign that's lasted too long. I've also heard that God is eternal.

— Nicolas Chamfort

Running a house should be left to innkeepers.

— Nicolas Chamfort

Every day I add to the list of things I refuse to discuss. The wiser the man, the longer the list.

— Nicolas Chamfort

Someone was talking about the respect we owe the public. “Yes,” said M…., “It's a question of prudence. Nobody has a high opinion of fishwives but who would dare offend them while walking through the fish market.”

— Nicolas Chamfort

A devout and naïve Christian was admonishing those who questioned the articles of faith. “A true Christian must never examine the things he's told to believe, gentlemen,” he said. “It's like taking a pill: if you chew it, it's so bitter you'll never get it down.”

— Nicolas Chamfort

I asked M.—why he'd turned down the offer of a particular post. “I didn't want a post where the office is more important than the holder of it,” he replied.

— Nicolas Chamfort

A man begins every stage of his life as a novice.

— Nicolas Chamfort

Nature never said to me: Do not be poor; still less did she say: Be rich; her cry to me was always: Be independent.

— Nicolas Chamfort

A man well-known to be a liar had just told a most improbable story. “Sir, while I believe you,” someone said, “you must admit that it's very wrong of truth not to condescend to be more plausible.”

— Nicolas Chamfort

High society is a poor play, a bad, boring opera, made slightly better by its staging, costumes and scenery.

— Nicolas Chamfort

Eminence without merit earns deference without esteem.

— Nicolas Chamfort

The only thing that stops God sending a second Flood is that the first one was useless.

— Nicolas Chamfort

We must start human society from scratch; as Francis Bacon said, we must recreate human understanding.

— Nicolas Chamfort

Most anthologists of poetry or quotations are like those who eat cherries or oysters, first picking the best and ending by eating everything.

— Nicolas Chamfort

And so I leave this world, where the heart must either break or turn to lead.

— Nicolas Chamfort

There are well-dressed foolish ideas just as there are well-dressed fools.

— Nicolas Chamfort

Love is more pleasant than marriage for the same reason that novels are more amusing than history.

— Nicolas Chamfort

Celebrity is the advantage of being known to people who we don't know, and who don't know us.

— Nicolas Chamfort

Swallow a toad in the morning and you will encounter nothing more disgusting the rest of the day.

— Nicolas Chamfort