Customer Reviews:
 a lot said in a little amount of words that is probably able to be written (particularly when translated from french) June 22, 2007
every cynic will know of la rochefoucauld, the greatest cynic of them all. this book collects all his known maxims in one collection - giving you the opportunity to put down others with withering phrases, quickly and easily. when my mother-in-law told me off for buying cheap curtains i simply said, "nothing is given so liberally as our advice" (maxim no 110) and she was stumped for words. on another occasion, when my father-in-law said i watched too many soaps, i retorted: "when vanity is not prompting us we have little to say" (maxim no 137). i am not fond of the in-laws.
 Indispensible January 27, 2004
2 out of 3 found this review helpful
La Rochefoucauld's maxims contain much wisdom in few words. Epigrammatic, profound, and an indispensible addition to anyone's bookshelf.
A remarkable insight into human nature December 30, 2000
7 out of 8 found this review helpful
In this work, La Rochefoucauld captures with amazing precision, the true nature of people. His maxims are summaries of his insights into human behavoir. Arguably, they display a pessimistic, infinitely cynical, and even, it could be argued, a misanthropic view of people. There can, however, be no question that these snappy, sometimes witty truisms will strike a chord with any human being. So perceptive are they, that they apply to modern life almost as much as they did to the seventeen century France in which and for which they were written
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