3 Powerful Lessons from La Rochefoucauld
How the pessimist philosopher can teach us to better understand life
How the pessimist philosopher can teach us to better understand life
François de La Rochefoucauld was a French moralist who lived between 1613 and 1680. He was most known for his Maximes which is composed of 504 maxims on morals and human nature. In referencing the work, he once said:
“The reason why we argue so much against the maxims that expose the human heart, is that we ourselves are afraid of being exposed by them.”
And this is apparent from the first line of them. One who reads the Maximes quickly sees the blunt impact of his views of the world and the weight they carry. His prose are direct and unicumbered. His views on humanity are at times both cynical and pessimistic. And yet, there is a deep level of truth in the words he writes.
Below are three such maxims.
Lesson # 1 — Use Fewer Words
There is a misconception that the more one says, the more intelligent one appears to be. This, however, is not true as what can be said in three sentences could be summarized in one. Twitter provides a great example of how value can be distilled in less than 280 characters.
La Rochefoucauld argued the same thing, saying:
“As great minds have the ability to say much in few words, so, conversely, small minds have the gift of talking much and not saying anything.”
To La Rochefoucauld, the wise man can either be direct in his speech or summarize what he is attempting to say whereas the “small mind” thinks the more he talks, the smarter he appears to be.
Lesson #2 —Understanding Ambition
There is a myth spawned by titans of industry such as Henry Ford, John D. Rockefeller, Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk that all it takes in life to be successful is tenacious ambition and a relentless pursuit of the ideal.
But this does not always determine success from failure and more often than not, people view these titans and hold this logic to be true. In actuality, however, the road to success is paved with many barriers.
La Rochefoucauld puts it this way:
“The greatest ambition does not seem like anything of the kind, when it finds itself in a situation where it is utterly unable to gain what it wants.”
Ambition, to an extent, only looks like ambition when looking back upon it once success has been achieved. For those who were ambitious but did not find success, they are do not seem as ambitious because they have nothing to show for it.
Lesson #3 —Fortune’s Help
We love stories and the hero’s journey. Every story told today follows the same format: a protagonist with a flaw is thrust onto some type of transformative journey where they go through trials and tribulations before eventually succeeding or failing in their journey.
The trials and tribulations faced are quickly learned and overcome. Yet, life is not always a story in the same hero’s journey arc. A lot of times in life, fortune plays a huge role in whether or not we succeed in the journey we’re on.
La Rochefoucauld characteristically put it bluntly:
“Whatever great advantages nature may give, heroes are not made by her alone, but by fortune working with her.”
The Stoics believed that our lives were not fully within our control. Epictetus famously proclaimed:
“Some things in the world are up to us, while others are not. Up to us are our faculties of judgment — motivation, desire, and aversion — in short, everything that is our own doing. Not up to us are our body and property, our reputations, and our official positions — in short, everything that is not our own doing.”
While we have control over our efforts, we ultimately are also reliant upon fortune and it falling within our favor.
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