A biography for Jean de la Bruyerehasn’t been written yet.
“Grief at the absence of a loved one is happiness compared to life with a person one hates.”
“Those who make the worst use of their time are the first to complain of its shortness.”
“The slave has but one master, the ambitious man has as many as there are persons whose aid may contribute to the advancement of his fortunes.”
“When a book raises your spirit, and inspires you with noble and manly thoughts, seek for no other test of its excellence. It is good, and made by a good workman.”
“Avoid lawsuits beyond all things; they pervert your conscience, impair your health, and dissipate your property.”
“We can recognize the dawn and the decline of love by the uneasiness we feel when alone together.”
“Two persons cannot long be friends if they cannot forgive each other's little failings.”
“When a work lifts your spirits and inspires bold and noble thoughts in you, do not look for any other standard to judge by: the work is good, the product of a master craftsman.”
“We should keep silent about those in power; to speak well of them almost implies flattery; to speak ill of them while they are alive is dangerous, and when they are dead is cowardly.”
“I would not like to see a person who is sober, moderate, chaste and just say that there is no God. They would speak disinterestedly at least, but such a person is not to be found.”
“A position of eminence makes a great person greater and a small person less.”
“Making a book is a craft, like making a clock; it needs more than native wit to be an author.”
“It is fortunate to be of high birth, but it is no less so to be of such character that people do not care to know whether you are or are not.”
“At the beginning and at the end of love, the two lovers are embarrassed to find themselves alone.”
“To be among people one loves, that's sufficient; to dream, to speak to them, to be silent among them, to think of indifferent things; but among them, everything is equal.”
“Politeness makes one appear outwardly as they should be within.”
“As favor and riches forsake a man, we discover in him the foolishness they concealed, and which no one perceived before.”
“Two quite opposite qualities equally bias our minds - habits and novelty.”
“Man has but three events in his life: to be born, to live, and to die. He is not conscious of his birth, he suffers at his death and he forgets to live.”
“The Opera is obviously the first draft of a fine spectacle; it suggests the idea of one.”