Francois de La Rochefoucauld was a 17th century French aristocrat who was well-known for his pithy maxims about everyday life and human nature. There’s a good chance that you’ve heard of some variant of one of his sayings and found yourself contemplative about the larger repercussions of the maxim. Indeed, his writings have influenced centuries of European intellectuals, ranging from Voltaire to Nietzsche.
And to those who criticize the platitudes of maxims, La Rochefoucauld has a response: “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.” (Maxims, 181)