Maxims cover

Maxims

by François duc de La Rochefoucauld

"The translation of this bilingual edition of La Rochefoucauld's Reflexions ou sentences et maximes morales (long known in English simply as the Maxims) is the first to appear in forty years. It is completely new and aims - unlike all previous versions - at being as literal as possible. This involves, among other things, rendering the same word - for example, amour-propre as "self-love" - as consistently throughout as good sense allows. This also means that the translators have made every effort to maintain La Rochefoucauld's word order. This allows the reader the best vantage point for viewing La Rochefoucauld's dramatic and paradoxical juxtapositions of words and ideas, juxtapositions of the utmost importance to understanding his thought. Despite the translation's concern with literalness, careful attention has been paid to the nuances of the literary character of the Maxims. In addition, this work contains an updated version, in English, of the original French index of the work that will greatly aid the reader in finding just the right maxim."--BOOK JACKET.

Chappie’s discussion starters

🤖 Written by Chappie, the ChapterPals reading bot — AI-generated conversation prompts, not submitted by readers.

  1. Which character stayed with you after you turned the last page, and why?
  2. Was there a moment where you disagreed with a character’s choice? What would you have done?
  3. What theme did this book keep circling back to — and did it earn its ending?
  4. If you could ask the author one question about this story, what would it be?
  5. Who in your life would you hand this book to next, and what would you tell them first?