When he recovered his health, he devoted himself
to society. Madame de Sable assumed a hold over
him. He lived a quiet life, and occupied himself in
composing an account of his early life, called his
"Memoirs," and his immortal "Maxims."

From the time he ceased to take part in public life,
Rochefoucauld's real glory began. Having acted the
various parts of soldier, politician, and lover with but
small success, he now commenced the part of moralist,
by which he is known to the world.

Living in the most brilliant society that France
possessed, famous from his writings, distinguished
from the part he had taken in public affairs, he
formed the centre of one of those remarkable French
literary societies, a society which numbered among its
members La Fontaine, Racine, Boileau. Among his
most attached friends was Madame de La Fayette (the
authoress of the "Princess of Cleeves"), and this friend-
ship continued until his death. He was not, however,
destined to pass away in that gay society without
some troubles. At the passage of the Rhine in 1672
two of his sons were engaged; the one was killed,
the other severely wounded. Rochefoucauld was
much affected by this, but perhaps still more by the
death of the young Duc de Longueville, who perished
on the same occasion.

Sainte Beuve says that the cynical book and that