François de La Rochefoucauld

François de La Rochefoucauld was born in Paris in 1613 into an ancient ducal family; he married at fifteen and went to war at sixteen. All his life he was caught up in court intrigues and political struggles: he opposed Richelieu, joined the rebellion of the Fronde, and was shot in the head in battle and nearly blinded. Disappointed in politics, he retired to Paris, frequented the salons of great ladies and became a close friend of Madame de Sévigné and Madame de La Fayette. In the salon of the Marquise de Sablé the guests played a game of summing up human nature in a single sentence; his Maxims were written in that atmosphere and revised again and again, every word weighed.