Ben Wilson

They don't lack the harshness of a Napoleon or a Caesar, but only the power that they actually possessed. And in fact, you know, if these people possessed even an ounce of the power of a Caesar, they would be much more cruel and less clement than someone, you know, like Julius Caesar, for example. And then one last quote, this is one of my favorites. This is maybe my favorite Rochefoucauld quote.

They don't lack the harshness of a Napoleon or a Caesar, but only the power that they actually possessed. And in fact, you know, if these people possessed even an ounce of the power of a Caesar, they would be much more cruel and less clement than someone, you know, like Julius Caesar, for example. And then one last quote, this is one of my favorites. This is maybe my favorite Rochefoucauld quote.

He says, "...we should gain more by letting the world see what we are than by trying to seem what we are not." And I think that is the ultimate insight of Francois de La Rochefoucauld. Be true to yourself. See yourself for who you really are with no pretenses, no illusions. Like be harsh in your self-examination. And you will gain more by that exercise than by deceiving yourself. All right.

He says, "...we should gain more by letting the world see what we are than by trying to seem what we are not." And I think that is the ultimate insight of Francois de La Rochefoucauld. Be true to yourself. See yourself for who you really are with no pretenses, no illusions. Like be harsh in your self-examination. And you will gain more by that exercise than by deceiving yourself. All right.

And one last thing I guess about Rochefoucauld is he was able to have all these deep insights into human nature because he lived that full life. He was fighting, seducing, building, truly living. And that is what made him a great thinker and a great philosopher.

And one last thing I guess about Rochefoucauld is he was able to have all these deep insights into human nature because he lived that full life. He was fighting, seducing, building, truly living. And that is what made him a great thinker and a great philosopher.

And all these so-called philosophers who spend their lives locked in a room, reading books and doing nothing else, they can't hold a candle to him. Like he got to be the man, you know, the, the, the swashbuckling pirate living a fun and happy life, and also the great philosopher. And ultimately, some of his critics never got to be either one.

And all these so-called philosophers who spend their lives locked in a room, reading books and doing nothing else, they can't hold a candle to him. Like he got to be the man, you know, the, the, the swashbuckling pirate living a fun and happy life, and also the great philosopher. And ultimately, some of his critics never got to be either one.

So if that is what you aspire to, to have great insights into the human condition, you can't forget to really live. It reminds me of a great poem called The Scholars by William Butler Yeats. Shout out to Eric Hewitt, who shared this with me. It's very short. It goes like this. Remember, this is called The Scholars. He's describing scholars. He says, "'Bulbheads, forgetful of their sins.'"

So if that is what you aspire to, to have great insights into the human condition, you can't forget to really live. It reminds me of a great poem called The Scholars by William Butler Yeats. Shout out to Eric Hewitt, who shared this with me. It's very short. It goes like this. Remember, this is called The Scholars. He's describing scholars. He says, "'Bulbheads, forgetful of their sins.'"

Old, learned, respectable bald heads edit and annotate the lines that young men tossing on their beds rhymed out in love's despair. To flatter beauty's ignorant ear, they'll cough in the ink to the world's end, wear out the carpet with their shoes, earning respect, have no strange friend. If they have sinned, nobody knows. Lord, what would they say? Did their catalyst walk that way?

Old, learned, respectable bald heads edit and annotate the lines that young men tossing on their beds rhymed out in love's despair. To flatter beauty's ignorant ear, they'll cough in the ink to the world's end, wear out the carpet with their shoes, earning respect, have no strange friend. If they have sinned, nobody knows. Lord, what would they say? Did their catalyst walk that way?

I hope you've enjoyed this episode. I know this is a lesser known figure. Again, those of you who are here at the end of this episode, you're the real ones. You're the real fans. Thank you so much for the support and for bearing with me. I hope you learned something. I know I certainly did. Rochefoucault was an extremely interesting person with an interesting philosophy and a beautiful life.

I hope you've enjoyed this episode. I know this is a lesser known figure. Again, those of you who are here at the end of this episode, you're the real ones. You're the real fans. Thank you so much for the support and for bearing with me. I hope you learned something. I know I certainly did. Rochefoucault was an extremely interesting person with an interesting philosophy and a beautiful life.

And I think his philosophy is a much needed corrective to the positive thinking philosophy that pervades much of the world today and the self-deception that can come with that. So thanks for coming on this journey with me. And until next time, thank you for listening to How to Take Over the World. And of course, one last shout out to Speechify. I used Speechify to do my reading for this episode.

And I think his philosophy is a much needed corrective to the positive thinking philosophy that pervades much of the world today and the self-deception that can come with that. So thanks for coming on this journey with me. And until next time, thank you for listening to How to Take Over the World. And of course, one last shout out to Speechify. I used Speechify to do my reading for this episode.

19th century translations of 17th century works of French literature are not the easiest to read and digest. And I find that listening while I read really helps me comprehend and retain more for my reading. Speechify is the best in the business at text to speech AI. And if you want, you can even listen in my voice. So go to speechify.com slash Ben to get 15% off Speechify premium.

19th century translations of 17th century works of French literature are not the easiest to read and digest. And I find that listening while I read really helps me comprehend and retain more for my reading. Speechify is the best in the business at text to speech AI. And if you want, you can even listen in my voice. So go to speechify.com slash Ben to get 15% off Speechify premium.

You won't regret it.

You won't regret it.