Nicolas ChamfortFrench author |
Having lots of ideas doesn`t mean you`re clever, any more than having lots of soldiers means you`re a good general.
There are some parts of the soul which we must entirely paralyze before we can live happily in this world.
Nearly all men are slaves for the same reason that the Spartans assigned for the servitude of the Persians - lack of power to pronounce the syllable, No. To be able to utter that word and live alone, are the only two means to preserve one`s freedom and one`s character.
Living is a sickness to which sleep provides relief every sixteen hours. It`s a palliative. The remedy is death.
It is safe to wager that every public idea and every accepted convention is sheer foolishness, because it has suited the majority.