We are dismayed when we find that even disaster cannot cure us of our faults. --Vauvenargues

Luc de Clapiers, marquis de Vauvenargues (6 August 1715 – 28 May 1747) was a minor French writer, a moralist. He died at age 31, in broken health, having published the year prior—anonymously—a collection of essays and aphorisms with the encouragement of Voltaire, his friend. He first received public notice under his own name in 1797, and from 1857 on, his aphorisms became popular. In the history of French literature, his significance lies chiefly in his friendship with Voltaire (20 years his senior).