La Rochefoucauld

In the person of La Rochefoucauld we must see not only the great writer, who showed in his maxims and maxims a subtle observation and original wit, but also the proud worldly man, whose motto is "honor and glory" and whose activity is mainly in military enterprises and dangerous conspiracies. The writer here appears relatively late, only when all hope for success in the political field is lost and when severe disappointments and physical infirmities force the strong-willed man to withdraw into a quiet distance from the turbulent public life. Very indicative of the true ambition of La Rochefoucauld is the fact that he decided to print his famous collection of Reflections from 1665 when he had reached the age of 52 and that the reason for this was the appearance - without the knowledge and consent of the author - of a "bad copy" of his manuscript, capable of giving a distorted opinion of the original. He did not aspire to the laurels of a writer in the least, although he was easily able to write poems and tried with success to compose memoirs. He sought his true glory in exploits with the sword: he always considered the art of war "nobler and more glorious" than the art of speech. In order to understand not only this preference, but also the spiritual face of Laroche Foucault in general, it is necessary to cast a cursory glance at the life destiny of the man who occupied such a prominent place in the literary history of the French 17th century.