The sharpest self-knowledge ever compressed into single sentences. The Duc de La Rochefoucauld's famous maxims strip away our flattering illusions to show the vanity and self-interest beneath much that we call virtue. Elegant, merciless, and often very funny, they have delighted and stung readers for centuries. A brilliant classic for anyone brave enough to be told the truth about human nature, and their own, in perfect miniature.