La Rochefoucauld §laroch_245: There is great ability in knowing how to conceal one's ability.
Source: François de La Rochefoucauld, Maxims (1665) (laroch_245) · external_aligned
There is great ability in knowing how to conceal one's ability. ["You have accomplished a great stroke in diplomacy when you have made others think that you have only very average abilities."--La Bruyere.]
Witnesses (Deuteronomy 19:15)
- manuscript_tradition: First edition, Paris 1665 — Barbin imprint
- critical_edition: Pleiade edition — Truchet (Gallimard, 1964)
- translation: Tancock translation (Penguin Classics, 1959)
- republication: Project Gutenberg — Maxims
- republication: Internet Archive — multiple editions