Moral precepts

Author: La Rochefoucauld
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2003-03-01
Features: One of the "10 Unique Books" selected by the World Book Association. The Maxims not only holds historical and sociological significance in reflecting the moral customs and social landscape of the upper class at the time but also helps people gain insights into various aspects of human nature, and assists in understanding and analyzing some contemporary Western thought trends. The Maxims includes 635 maxims and 19 essays, with a sharp pen almost touching upon all the qualities and behaviors that people regard as virtues: kindness, openness, nobility, honesty, chastity, courage, wit, temperance, generosity, humility, determination, faithfulness, grief, gratitude, honor, achievement, compassion, sympathy, praise, and advice, etc. Renowned writers such as Sainte-Beuve, Stendhal, and Colette in France, Nietzsche in Germany, Hardy in England, and Lu Xun in China were all influenced by this book. In France, it is compared to Montaigne's Essays; in England, people are familiar with it as they are with Bacon's aphorisms.