Nicolas Chamfort Quotes

A collection of quotes by Nicolas Chamfort.

Nicolas Chamfort was an 18th-century French writer and moralist, born FranÃ§ois-Louis-Nicolas Duval. Known for his witty aphorisms and sharp observations, he gained popularity as a prominent figure of the French Enlightenment. Chamfort was an influential member of Parisian salons, associating with notable intellectual figures of the time. Although much of his personal life remains unknown, his philosophical insights and literary contributions continue to be widely appreciated for their intellectual depth and reflection of the social and political climate of his era.

It is commonly supposed that the art of pleasing is a wonder

It is commonly supposed that the art of pleasing is a wonderful aid in the pursuit of fortune but the art of being bored is infinitely more successful.

Nicolas Chamfort

A man well-known to be a liar had just told a most improbabl

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

Truth Man Wrongs

Swallow a toad in the morning and you will encounter nothing

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

Nicolas Chamfort

Most of those who make collections of verse or epigram are l

Most of those who make collections of verse or epigram are like men eating cherries or oysters: they choose out the best at first, and end by eating all.

Nicolas Chamfort

A human being has been given an intellect to make choices, a

A human being has been given an intellect to make choices, and we know there are other food sources that do not require the killing of a creature that would protest being killed.

Mary Tyler Moore

Society is composed of two great classes those who have more

Society is composed of two great classes those who have more dinners than appetite, and those who have more appetite than dinners.

Nicolas Chamfort

Love is more pleasant than marriage for the same reason that

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

Nicolas Chamfort

When a man and a woman have an overwhelming passion for each

When a man and a woman have an overwhelming passion for each other, it seems to me, in spite of such obstacles dividing them as parents or husband, that they belong to each other in the name of Nature, and are lovers by Divine right, in spite of human convention or the laws.

Nicolas Chamfort

Nature never said to me: Do not be poor still less did she s

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

If it were not for the government, we should have nothing to

If it were not for the government, we should have nothing to laugh at in France.

Nicolas Chamfort

Change of fashion is the tax levied by the industry of the p

Change of fashion is the tax levied by the industry of the poor on the vanity of the rich.

Nicolas Chamfort

The art of the parenthesis is one of the greatest secrets of

The art of the parenthesis is one of the greatest secrets of eloquence in Society.

Nicolas Chamfort

One must not hope to be more than one can be.

One must not hope to be more than one can be.

Nicolas Chamfort