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Writers born active died
1599 1640-1669 1678, Jan 16
a French writer, was the daughter of Gilles de Souvré, marquis de Courtenvaux, tutor of Louis XIII , and marshal of France. In 1614 she married Philippe Emmanuel de Laval, marquis de Sablé, who died in 1640, leaving her in somewhat straitened circumstances. With her friend the comtesse de Saint Maure she took rooms in the Place Royale, Paris, and established a literary salon. The class of literature, of which the Maximes of La Rochefoucauld is one of the best-known example, was originated here. The Maximes of the marquise de Sablé were in fact composed before those of La Rochefoucauld, though not published till after her death.
Quotes View in Quotations Being too unhappy is weakness, being too happy is stupidity.
Good results are sometimes owing to a failure of judgment, because the faculty of judgment often hinders us from undertaking many things which would succeed if carried through without thinking.
He who uses trickery should at least make use of his judgment to learn that he can scarcely hide treacherous conduct for very long among clever men who are determined to find him out, although they may pretend to be deceived in order to disguise their knowledge of his deceitfulness.
It is a singular characteristic of love that we cannot hide it where it exists, or pretend it where it does not exist.
It is a very common failing, never to be pleased with our fortune nor displeased with our character.
It is better that great peoples should seek out glory, or even vanity, in their deeds, than that they should remain indifferent . For even if they are not incited to act upon virtuous principles, at least there is the saving grace that they will do things they might not have done had not vanity prompted their actions.
It is vain and useless to survey everything that goes on in the world if our study does not help us mend our ways.
Love has such a particular character that it cannot be hidden when it is there, nor can it be pretended when it is not there.
Man's greatest wisdom consists in being aware of his follies.
Nothing can tell us so much about the general lawlessness of humanity as a perfect acquaintance with our own immoderate behavior. If we would think over our own impulses, we would recognize in our own souls the guiding principle of all vices which we reproach in other people; and if it is not in our very actions, it will be present at least in our impulses. There is no malice that self-love will not offer to our spirits so that we may exploit any occasion, and there are few people virtuous enough not to be tempted.
Pettiness of mind, ignorance and presumption are the cause of stubbornness, because stubborn people only want to believe what they themselves can imagine, and they can imagine very few things.
Self-love is almost always the ruling principle of our friendships. It makes us avoid all our obligations in unprofitable situations, and even causes us to forget our hostility towards our enemies when they become powerful enough to help us achieve fame or fortune.
Self-love is even deceived by self-love, because by looking out for our own interests and disregarding those of other people, we lose the advantage that comes with the exchange of favors.
The conversation of those who like to lord it over us is very disagreeable. But we should always be ready to graciously acknowledge the truth, no matter in what guise it comes to us.
The meanness of ingenuity, ignorance and presumption produce obstinacy , since obstinate people believe only in what they understand, but they understand very little.
The nonsense of others must be a teaching for us, not a reason to scoff at those who do it.
There are many people who are so inclined to say "no" that the "no" always precedes whatever we say to them. This negative quality makes them so disagreeable that, even if they do what we want them to or agree with what we say, they always lose the pleasure that they might have received had they not started off so badly.
There are people so blind and self-absorbed in all matters that they always believe that, whatever they desire or think, they can impose their will on other people. Whatever bad reason they use to persuade others, these self-centered people are so caught up in the process that it seems to them all they have to do is to speak their wishes in a lofty and commanding tone of voice in order to convince everybody.
There are petty-minded people who cannot endure to be reminded of their ignorance because, since they are usually quite blind to all things, quite foolish, and quite ignorant, they never question anything, and are persuaded that they see clearly what in fact they never see at all, save through the darkness of their own dispositions.
There is a certain hidden mediocrity in those who are stationed above us in life, an ability to take liberties in their pursuit of pleasures and diversions, without injuring the honor and respect we owe to them.
There is no one who cannot derive great help and great benefit from learning; but there are also only a few people who do not receive a great harm from the light and knowledge they have received by learning, unless they use their knowledge in a manner both fit and natural for them.
To be too dissatisfied with ourselves is a weakness. To be too satisfied with ourselves is a stupidity.
We are more put off by people who parade their dignity than by people who show off their wardrobes. When people have to trick themselves out to gain attention, it is a sure sign that they are unworthy of it. If we want to make ourselves worthy, we can do so only by the innate eminence conferred by virtue. We hold great people in esteem more for the qualities of their soul than for the qualities of their fortune.
We prefer people who are trying to imitate us more than those who are trying to equal us. This is because imitation is a sign of esteem, but the desire to equal others is a sign of envy.
We think highly of men when we do not know the extent of their capabilities, for we always suppose that more exists when we only see half.
When High and Mighty people want to make us believe that they possess some good quality which they in fact do not have, it is dangerous to show that you doubt them; because, by removing their hope of deceiving the world, you also remove their desire to perform the good acts that might have arisen from their very pretensions.
When people reproach us, they only increase their own failings even as they are disclaiming them.
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Writers
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Sort Name Nationality Born Active Died Selected 117
Madeleine de Souvre 1599 1640
1669 1678, Jan 16
Richard Bernard 1568 1598 1641 1641 an English Puritan clergyman and writer. Barnard was a Calvinist Puritan, but a moderate one. Ber... Edward Finch unknown 1630 1641 unknown an English Royalist divine. On 9 December 1630 Edward was admitted to the vicarage of Christ Chur... James Shirley 1596, Sep 1625 1642 1666, Oct an English dramatist. He belonged to the great period of English dramatic literature, but, in Lam... Sir John Suckling 1609, Feb 10 1631 1642 1642 ca an English poet and a prominent figure among those renowned for careless gaiety and wit, the acco... Charles de Valois 1573, Apr 28 1589 1643 1650, Sep 24 a French royal bastard, count of Auvergne, duke of Angoulême, and memoirist. Charles de Valois w... Joseph Hall 1574, Jul 1 1597 1643 1656, Sep 8 an English bishop, satirist and moralist. His contemporaries knew him as a devotional writer, and... Francisco Pacheco 1571 1611 1644 1654 a Spanish painter, best known as the teacher and father-in-law of Diego Velázquez and Alonzo Can... Hugo Grotius 1583, Apr 10 1599 1645 1645, Aug 28 a Dutch jurist. Along with the earlier works of Francisco de Vitoria and Alberico Gentili, Grotiu... John Abbot 1587/88 1623 1647 1650 ca an English Roman Catholic clergyman and poet. His birthplace is uncertain, but may have been Lond... Thomas Edwards [2] 1599 ca 1625 1647 1647 an English Puritan clergyman. He was a very influential preacher in London of the 1640s, and also... Feardorcha O Meallain unknown 1641 1647 unknown an Irish poet the reputed author of An DÃbirt go Connachta. He is said to have been a Franciscan... Matthew Hopkins 1620 ca 1644 1647 1647, Aug 12 an English witch-hunter whose career flourished during the English Civil War. He claimed to hold ... Anthony Knivet unknown 1591 1649 unknown an English sailor who fell into Portuguese hands in Brazil, lived for a while with a native Brazi... Fearfeasa O Maol Chonaire unknown 1620 1649 unknown co-compiler and scribe of the Annals of the Four Masters. As a young man, he participated in the ... Andre du Ryer 1580 ca 1630 1649 1660/1672 a French orientalist who wrote the third western translation of the Qur'an. He was a diplomatic a... Jasper Fisher 1591 1630 1649 unknown an English divine and dramatist. About 1631 (according to Anthony Wood) he became rector of Wilsd... William Drury unknown 1640 1649 unknown an English dramatist. Drury was an English gentleman "of singular parts and learning". He was for... Edmund Gregory 1615 ca 1640 1649 unknown an English author. The son of Henry Gregory, rector of, and benefactor to, Sherrington, Wiltshire... Naftali Hertz unknown 1640 1649 unknown a German rabbi, born in Frankfurt, author of the controversial work Emeq HaMelekh (Valley of the ... Anna Hume unknown 1640 1649 unknown a Scottish translator, poet and writer. Controversy surrounded her publication of History of the ... James Yorke unknown 1640 1649 unknown an English heraldic writer. He wrote a compilation on heraldry and genealogy that appeared in fol... Rene Descartes 1596, Mar 31 1619 1650 1650, Feb 11 a French philosopher, mathematician, and scientist. Dubbed the father of modern western philosoph... Niccolo Cabeo 1586, Feb 26 1620 1650 1650, Jun 30 an Italian Jesuit philosopher, theologian, engineer and mathematician. He is noted for his contri... Tarlach O Meallain unknown 1641 1650 unknown an Irish Franciscan, author of CÃn Lae Uà Mhealláin . Tarlach was the chaplain to Felim ... Richard Elton unknown 1650 1650 unknown an English military writer. Elton was the author of The compleat Body of the Art Military. . .... Agneta Horn 1629, Aug 18 1650 1650 1672, Mar 18 a Swedish writer born to noble parents and a military father. She traveled a great deal throughou... John Selden 1584, Dec 16 1612 1652 1654, Nov 30 an English jurist and a scholar of England's ancient laws and constitution and scholar of Jewish ... John Smith [3] 1618 1644 1652 1652, Aug 7 an English philosopher, theologian, and educator. Smith entered Emmanuel College, Cambridge, in 1... Pierre Gassendi 1592, Jan 22 1617 1653 1655, Oct 24 a French philosopher, priest, scientist, astronomer, and mathematician. While he held a church po... Theodore Tronchin 1582, Apr 17 1608 1655 1657, Nov 19 a Swiss Calvinist theologian, controversialist and Hebraist. He studied theology at Geneva, Basel... Edward Fisher unknown 1627 1655 unknown an English theological writer. He is generally considered the author of The Marrow of Modern Divi... Johann Heinrich Bisterfeld 1605 1629 1655 1655, Feb 16 a German philosopher, logician and encyclopedic writer from Siegen. A follower of Ramus and pupil... Margherita Costa 1600 ca 1628 1657 1657 a singer, poet, playwright and feminist, is the most Baroque of the seventeenth-century Italian w... Menasseh Ben Israel 1604 1632 1657 1657, Nov 20 a Portuguese rabbi, kabbalist, writer, diplomat, printer and publisher, founder of the first Hebr... Henry Cockeram unknown 1623 1658 unknown an English lexicographer. In 1623, he authored the third known English Language dictionary, and t... Henry Robinson 1604 ca 1640 1659 1664 ca an English merchant and writer. He is best known for a work on religious toleration, Liberty of C... Blaise Pascal 1623, Jun 19 1642 1659 1662, Aug 19 a French mathematician, physicist, inventor, writer and Christian philosopher. He was a child pro... Richard Balam unknown 1650 1659 unknown an English mathematician. Balam was the author of Algebra, or the Doctrine of composing, inferrin... Richard Whitlock unknown 1650 1659 unknown Author of the satirical book 'Zootomia', published in 1654. Anthony Jenkinson 1529 1550 166 1610/1611 one of the first Britons to explore Muscovy and present day Russia. Jenkinson was a traveller and... Saul Levi Morteira 1596 ca 1616 1660 1660, Feb 10 a Dutch rabbi of Portuguese descent. Morteira was the founder of the congregational school Keter ... Claude Lancelot 1615 ca 1638 1660 1695 Born in Paris, later to become a Jansenist monk and grammarian. Helped to establish the Petites Ã... Nathaniel Bacon [3] 1593, Dec 12 1645 1660 1660 an English Puritan lawyer, writer and politician who sat in the House of Commons at various times... William Rand unknown 1650 1660 unknown an English physician who projected general reforms in medical education, practice and publication... Thomas Fuller 1608 1630 1661 1661, Aug 16 an English churchman and historian. He is now remembered for his writings, particularly his Worth... Laurence Clarkson 1615 1646 1661 1667 an English theologian and accused heretic. He was the most outspoken and notorious of the loose c... Robert Abbot [1] 1588 ca 1610 1662 1662 ca an English theologian who promoted puritan doctrines. He is sometimes mistakenly described as the... William Aspinwall unknown 1648 1662 unknown a nonconformist English minister. He proceeded B.A. in 1657, but having obtained orders, went no... William Ames [2] unknown 1655 1662 1662 an early English itinerant Quaker preacher and writer. He joined the Quakers in 1655 at Dublin, h... Isobel Gowdie unknown 1662 1662 unknown a Scottish woman who was tried for witchcraft in 1662. Her detailed confession, apparently achiev... Cu Choigcriche O Cleirigh unknown 1624 1664 unknown an Irish historian and genealogist, known in English as Peregrine O'Clery. Along with Brother MÃ... Mildmay Fane 1602, Jan 24 1621 1666 1666, Feb 12 an English nobleman, politician, and writer. One hundred and thirty seven poems by Fane appeared ... William Day 1605 ca 1624 1666 1684 an English cleric and biblical commentator. He received his education at Eton College. He was ele... Jean Ogier de Gombauld 1576 1624 1666 1666 a French playwright and poet. Gombauld was born in Saint-Just-Luzac, Charente-Maritime and was a ... Ismael Bullialdus 1605, Sep 28 1632 1667 1694, Nov 25 a famous astronomer and mathematician during the seventeenth century. He published several books,... Pope Alexander VII 1599, Feb 13 1655 1667 1667, May 22 Pope for the Roman Catholic Church from 7 April 1655 to his death in 1667. Alexander VII disliked... Pierre Corneille 1606,Jun 6 1629 1668 1684, Oct 1 a French tragedian. He is generally considered one of the three great seventeenth-century French ... Jean-Baptiste Tavernier 1605 1630 1668 1689 a 17th-century French gem merchant and traveler. Tavernier, a private individual and merchant tra... John Wilkins 1614, Feb 14 1637 1668 1672, Nov 19 an Anglican clergyman, natural philosopher and author, and was one of the founders of the Royal S... John Knowles [1] unknown 1646 1668 unknown an English antitrinitarian preacher, imprisoned in 1665. A short paper of arguments for the deity... John Trapp 1601, Jun 5 1622 1669 1669, Oct 16 an English Anglican Bible commentator. His large five-volume commentary is still read today and i... William Prynne 1600 1627 1669 1669, Oct 24 an English lawyer, author, polemicist, and political figure. He was a prominent Puritan opponent ... John Webb 1611 1628 1669 1672, Oct 24 an English architect and scholar. In 1654 Webb designed the first classical portico on an English... Robert Bayfield 1629 1650 1669 unknown an English physician. He was born in Norwich and wrote with much energy on both religious and med... Sarah Blackborow unknown 1650 1669 unknown the author of tracts that strongly influenced Quaker thinking on social problems and the theologi... Benjamin Agus unknown 1660 1669 unknown an English divine, and was one of the most distinguished of the earlier vindicators of the noncon... Antoine Baudeau de Somaize 1630 ca 1660 1669 unknown a secretary to Marie Mancini, niece of Cardinal Mazarin. There is not much information known abo... William Brough unknown 1630 1671 1671 an English royalist churchman, Dean of Gloucester from 1643. Brough was a supporter of William La... Dubhaltach Mac Fhirbhisigh unknown 1640 1671 unknown an Irish scribe, translator, historian and genealogist. He was one of the last traditionally trai... Moise Vauquelin unknown 1650 1672 unknown An officer under François l'Ollonais, he also had a partnership with Pierre Le Picard. In his l... Ingen Ryuki 1592, Dec 7 1620 1673 1673, May 19 a Chinese Linji Chán Buddhist monk, poet, and calligrapher. He is most known for founding the Ob... Adam Vaclav Michna z Otradovic 1600, Jun 30 1633 1673 1676, Oct 16 a Czech Catholic aristocrat, poet, composer, hymn writer, organist and choir leader of the early ... Salvator Rosa 1615, Jun 20/Jul 21 1634 1673 1673, Mar 15 an Italian Baroque painter, poet, and printmaker, who was active in Naples, Rome, and Florence. A... Moliere 1622, Jan 15 1643 1673 1673, Feb 17 a French playwright and actor who is considered to be one of the greatest masters of comedy in We... Robert Herrick 1591, Aug 1623 1674 1674, Oct a 17th-century English lyric poet and cleric. He is best known for Hesperides, a book of poems. T... John Milton 1608, Dec 9 1623 1674 1674, Nov 8 an English poet, polemicist, and man of letters, and a civil servant for the Commonwealth of Engl... Thomas Hobbes 1588, Apr 5 1608 1675 1679, Dec 4 an English philosopher, best known today for his work on political philosophy. His 1651 book L... Roger Williams 1603, Dec 21 ca 1628 1676 1683, Jan-Mar a Puritan, an English Reformed theologian, and later a Reformed Baptist who was expelled by the P... Gian Lorenzo Bernini 1598, Dec 7 1609 1678 1680, Nov 28 an Italian artist and a prominent architect who worked principally in Rome. He was the leading sc... Thomas Ady unknown 1630 1679 unknown an English physician and humanist who was the author of three sceptical books on witchcraft and w... Thomas Watson [2] 1620 ca 1646 1679 1686 an English, Nonconformist, Puritan preacher and author. He showed strong Presbyterian views durin... Henry Fell unknown 1650 1679 unknown a Quaker missionary and writer. The first mention of him is in 1656 as suffering much from the ma... George Hartgill unknown 1590 168 unknown an English astronomer. Hartgill was in considerable repute during Elizabeth I's reign, from his k... Denzil Holles 1599, Oct 31 1624 1680 1680, Feb 17 an English statesman and writer, best known as one of the Five Members whose attempted unconstitu... William Robertson unknown 1650 1680 unknown a Scottish Hebraist. He was educated at Edinburgh University, taught Hebrew in London from 1653â€... Thomas Browne 1605, Oct 19 1637 1682 1682, Oct 19 an English polymath and author of varied works which reveal his wide learning in diverse fields i... Guarino Guarini 1624, Jan 7 1648 1683 1683, Mar 6 an Italian architect of the Piedmontese Baroque and Theatine priest, mathematician, and writer. H... John Archer unknown 1660 1684 unknown a court physician in the reign of Charles II. Of his origin nothing is certainly known; but he wa... Edmund Waller 1606, Mar 3 1624 1686 1687, Oct 21 an English poet and politician who sat in the House of Commons at various times between 1624 and ... Basil Ringrose unknown 1653 1686 unknown surgeon and cartographer ……runaway indentured servant who joined Bartholomew Sharp's "Pacific... Ferghal Dubh O Gadhra unknown 1655 1686+ unknown an Irish cleric and scribe. O Gadhra was the compiler of the O Gara Manuscript (now RIA MS 23 F 1... John Bunyan 1628, Nov 1644 1688 1688, Aug 31 an English writer and Baptist preacher best remembered as the author of the Christian allegory Anna Weamys unknown 1650 1688 unknown an English author. Weamys has been identified as the author of A Continuation of Sir Philip Sydne... Elizabeth Cellier unknown 1668 1688 unknown a notable Catholic midwife in seventeenth-century England. She stood trial for treason in 1679 fo... Colonel Cuthbert Potter 1637 ca 1653 1690 1691 Born in England and died in Barbados. He practiced law in Lancaster County, Virginia, as early as... Rhys Cadwaladr unknown 1666 1690 1690 a Welsh language poet and classical scholar, born in Conwy, north Wales. Died in 1690. He wrote a... Michael Wigglesworth 1631 1651 1691 1705 a Puritan minister, doctor and poet whose poem The Day of Doom was a bestseller in early N... Samuel Pepys 1633, Feb 23 1655 1691 1703, May 26 an English naval administrator and Member of Parliament who is now most well known for the diary ... John Evelyn 1620, Oct 31 1640 1694 1706, Feb 27 an English writer, gardener and diarist. Evelyn's diaries, or memoirs, are largely contemporaneou... Matsuo Basho 1644 1662 1694 1694 the most famous poet of the Edo period in Japan. During his lifetime, Bash? was recognized for hi... Daibhidh O Duibhgheannain unknown 1651 1696 unknown an active Iriish scribe, compiler and poet between the years 1651 and 1696. In the earliest of hi... Edward Phillips 1630, Aug 1651 1696 1696 ca an English author. His most important work is Theatrum poetarum (1675), a list of the chie... Marie de Rabutin-Chantal 1626, Feb 5 1651 1696 1696, Apr 17 a French aristocrat, remembered for her letter-writing. Most of her letters, celebrated for their... Robert Anderson unknown 1668 1696 unknown an English mathematician and silk-weaver. He wrote articles and books devoting special attention... William Wycherley 1641 ca 1659 1697 1716, Jan 1 an English dramatist of the Restoration period, best known for the plays The Country Wife ... Gaspar Sanz 1640 1660 1697 1710 an Aragonese composer, guitarist, organist and priest born to a wealthy family in Calanda in the ... Thomas Neale 1641 1664 1698 1699 an English project-manager and politician who was also the first person to hold a position equiva... Joan Baptista Aguilar unknown 1655 1699 1714 a dramatic author and poet who lived in Valencia, Spain from his birth until his death in 1714. I... Jacques-Benigne Bossuet 1627, Sep 27 1643 1701 1704, Apr 12 a French bishop and theologian, renowned for his sermons and other addresses. He has been conside... Roger L'Estrange 1616, Dec 17 1639 1702 1704, Dec 11 an English pamphleteer, author and staunch defender of Royalist claims. L'Estrange was involved i... Philipp Spener 1635, Jan 13 1653 1702 1705, Feb 5 a German Christian theologian known as the "Father of Pietism." Highly influenced by Johann Arndt... John Locke 1632, Aug 29 1660 1704 1704, Oct 28 an English philosopher and physician, widely regarded as one of the most influential of Enlighten... Nicolas Boileau-Despreaux 1636, Nov 1 1656 1711 1711, Mar 13 a French poet and critic. Boileau did much to reform the prevailing form of French poetry, as Bla... Willem Sewel 1653, Apr 1668 1720 1720, Mar a Dutch Quaker historian, of English background. He was son of Jacob Williamson Sewel, a free cit... Pierre Daniel Huet 1630, Feb 8 1651 1721 1721, Jan 26 a French churchman and scholar, editor of the Delphin Classics, founder of the Academie du Physiq... Isaac Newton 1642, Dec 25 1665 1726 1726, Mar 20 an English physicist and mathematician (described in his own day as a "natural philosopher") who ... Constantin Christian Dedekind 1628, Apr 2 1652 178 1715 a German poet, dramatist, librettist, composer and bass singer of the Baroque era. His 1657 songb...
