"There are very few things impossible in themselves; and we do not want means to conquer difficulties so much as application and resolution in the use of means"
About this Quote
La Rochefoucauld’s compliment to human capability lands with a characteristic sting: the world isn’t mostly blocked by “impossibility,” it’s blocked by our own failure to commit. The line turns away from grand theories of fate and toward a harsher, more actionable diagnosis. “Very few things impossible in themselves” deflates the convenient romance of the insurmountable. Most obstacles, he implies, aren’t metaphysical walls; they’re problems we’ve declined to solve with sustained effort.
The real blade is in the second clause. We “do not want means” is an almost bureaucratic phrasing, as if the tools are sitting on the table, labeled and within reach. What’s scarce isn’t resources, intelligence, or even opportunity. It’s “application and resolution” - the unglamorous, daily discipline of actually using what we already have. That choice of words is deliberate: application suggests repetition and attention; resolution suggests stubbornness in the face of boredom, setbacks, and the ego’s craving for excuses.
Context matters. Writing in 17th-century French aristocratic society, La Rochefoucauld specialized in maxims that puncture self-serving narratives. This is less motivational poster than moral x-ray. The subtext: we prefer to blame the lack of “means” because it flatters us; it lets us keep our self-image intact. Admitting the deficit is resolve is admitting the failure is ours. That’s why the sentence still works - it attacks the oldest alibi in the book, then replaces it with a demand that’s simple, not easy.
The real blade is in the second clause. We “do not want means” is an almost bureaucratic phrasing, as if the tools are sitting on the table, labeled and within reach. What’s scarce isn’t resources, intelligence, or even opportunity. It’s “application and resolution” - the unglamorous, daily discipline of actually using what we already have. That choice of words is deliberate: application suggests repetition and attention; resolution suggests stubbornness in the face of boredom, setbacks, and the ego’s craving for excuses.
Context matters. Writing in 17th-century French aristocratic society, La Rochefoucauld specialized in maxims that puncture self-serving narratives. This is less motivational poster than moral x-ray. The subtext: we prefer to blame the lack of “means” because it flatters us; it lets us keep our self-image intact. Admitting the deficit is resolve is admitting the failure is ours. That’s why the sentence still works - it attacks the oldest alibi in the book, then replaces it with a demand that’s simple, not easy.
Quote Details
| Topic | Overcoming Obstacles |
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