Works
Parole de Socrate
Jean De La FontaineFamous Jean De La Fontaine Quotes
“Patience and time do more than strength or passion.”
Patience et longueur de temps
Font plus que force ni que rage.
Book II (1668), fable 11.
Fables (1668–1679)
“Man is so made that when anything fires his soul, impossibilities vanish.”
L'homme est ainsi bâti: Quand un sujet l'enflamme
L'impossibilité disparaît à son âme.
Book VIII (1678-1679), fable 25.
Fables (1668–1679)
Jean De La Fontaine Quotes about people
“Beware, as long as you live, of judging people by appearances.”
Garde-toi, tant que tu vivras,
De juger les gens sur la mine.
Book VI (1668), fable 5.
Fables (1668–1679)
“People who make no noise are dangerous.”
Les gens sans bruit sont dangereux.
Book VIII (1678–1679), fable 23.
Fables (1668–1679)
“People must help one another; it is nature's law.”
"L'Ane et le Chien", as quoted in On a Darkling Plain (1995) by Richard Lee Byers, p. 94.
Jean De La Fontaine Quotes
“He knows the universe, and himself he does not know.”
Il connaît l’univers, et ne se connaît pas.
Book VIII (1678–1679), fable 26.
Fables (1668–1679)
Book I (1668), Dedication "To Monseigneur the Dauphin".
Fables (1668–1679)
“There's nothing useless to a man of sense.”
Il n'est rien d'inutile aux personnes de sens.
Book V (1668), fable 19.
Fables (1668–1679)
"Parole de Socrate", as quoted in The Wordsworth Book of Humorous Quotations (1998), edited by C. Robertson
“On the wings of Time grief flies away.”
Sur les ailes du Temps la tristesse s'envole.
Book VI (1668), fable 21.
Fables (1668–1679)
Variant: Sadness flies away on the wings of time.
“Everyone believes very easily whatever they fear or desire.”
As quoted in Subcontact : Slap the Face of Fear and Wake Up Your Subconscious (2001) by Dian Benson, p. 149
Variant: Everyone believes very easily whatever he fears or desires.
“It is a double pleasure to deceive the deceiver.”
C'est double plaisir de tromper le trompeur.
Book II (1668), fable 15 (The Cock and the Fox).
Fables (1668–1679)
Variant: It is twice the pleasure to deceive the deceiver.
“No path of flowers leads to glory.”
Book X, fable 14; reported in Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, 10th ed. (1919).
Fables (1668–1679)
“Our destiny is frequently met in the very paths we take to avoid it.”
On rencontre sa destinée
Souvent par des chemins qu’on prend pour l’éviter.
Book VIII (1678–1679), fable 16 (The Horoscope)
Fables (1668–1679)
Variant: A person often meets his destiny on the road he took to avoid it.
“Death never takes the wise man by surprise, he is always ready to go.”
La mort ne surprend point le sage:
Il est toujours prêt à partir.
Book VIII (1678-1679), fable 1.
Fables (1668–1679)
“In short, luck's always to blame.”
Bref, la fortune a toujours tort.
Book V (1688), fable 11 ( Luck and the Young Child http://books.google.com/books?id=onoa71F7TJ4C&q=%22bref+la+fortune+a+toujours+tort%22&pg=PA141#v=onepage)
Fables (1668–1679)
“The ant is no lender; that is the least of her faults.”
La fourmi n'est pas prêteuse;
C'est là son moindre défaut.
Book I (1668), fable 1.
Fables (1668–1679)
Mémoires pour servir à l'histoire de Port-Royal (1752), as cited by M. A. Screech in Laughter at the Foot of the Cross (1997), p. 69
“By the work one knows the workman.”
A l'oeuvre on connaît l'artisan.
Book I (1668), fable 21 (The Hornets And The Bees)
Fables (1668–1679)
Variant: The artist by his work is known.
As quoted in From Grandmother with Love (2005) by Becky Kelly and Patrick Regan, p. 53.
Je vais t'entretenir de moindres aventures,
Te tracer en ces vers de légères peintures;
Et si de t'agréer je n'emporte le prix,
J'aurai du moins d'honneur de l'avoir entrepris.
Book I (1668), Dedication "To Monseigneur the Dauphin".
Fables (1668–1679)
“Nothing is as dangerous as an ignorant friend; a wise enemy is to be preferred.”
Rien n'est si dangereux qu'un ignorant ami;
Mieux vaudrait un sage ennemi.
Book VIII (1678-1679), fable 10.
Fables (1668–1679)
Variant: Nothing is more dangerous than a friend without discretion; even a prudent enemy is preferable.
L’enseigne fait la chalandise.
Book VII (1678–1679), fable 16 (The Fortune-Tellers).
Fables (1668–1679)
Il faut, autant qu'on peut, obliger tout le monde:
On a souvent besoin d'un plus petit que soi.
Book II (1668), fable 11.
Fables (1668–1679)
Variant: One often has need of one inferior to himself.
“The fastidious are unfortunate; nothing satisfies them.”
Les délicats sont malheureux:
Rien ne saurait les satisfaire.
Book II (1668), fable 1.
Fables (1668–1679)
“Love is a cruel conqueror.
Happy is he who knows him through stories
And not by his blows!”
Amour est un étrange maître!
Heureux qui peut ne le connaître
Que par récit, lui ni ses coups!
Book IV (1668), fable 1 (Le lion amoureux).
Fables (1668–1679)
“Kindness effects more than severity.”
Plus fait douceur que violence.
Book VI (1678-1679), fable 3.
Fables (1668–1679)
“They are too green", he said, "and only good for fools.”
The Fox and the Grapes, fable 11; reported in Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, 10th ed. (1919).
Fables (1668–1679)
“Tis thus we heed no instincts but our own;
Believe no evil till the evil's done.”
Nous n'écoutons d'instincts que ceux qui sont les nôtres,
Et ne croyons le mal que quand il est venu.
Book I (1668), fable 8.
Fables (1668–1679)
“The opinion of the strongest is always the best.”
La raison du plus fort est toujours la meilleure.
Book I (1668), fable 10 (The Wolf and the Lamb).
Fables (1668–1679)
Variant: The argument of the strongest is always the best.
“To win a race, the swiftness of a dart availeth not without a timely start.”
Rien ne sert de courir; il faut partir à point.
Book VI (1668), fable 10.
Fables (1668–1679)
“In everything one must consider the end.”
En toute chose il faut considérer la fin.
Book III (1668), fable 5 (The Fox and the Gnat).
Fables (1668–1679)
“We must laugh before we are happy, for fear we die before we laugh at all.”
Jean de La Bruyère, in Du Coeur
Misattributed
“Never sell the bear's skin before one has killed the beast.”
Il ne faut jamais
Vendre la peau de l'ours qu'on ne l'ait mis par terre.
Book V (1668), fable 20.
Fables (1668–1679)
“Help thyself and Heaven will help thee.”
Aide-toi, le ciel t'aidera.
Book VI (1668), fable 17.
Fables (1668–1679)
“Let ignorance talk as it will, learning has its value.”
Laissez dire les sots: le savoir a son prix.
Book VIII (1678-1679), fable 19 (The Use of Knowledge).
Fables (1668–1679)
“Nothing weighs on us so heavily as a secret.”
Rien ne pèse tant qu'un secret.
Book VIII (1678-1679), fable 6.
Fables (1668–1679)
Variant: Nothing weighs more than a secret.
“It is impossible to please all the world and one's father.”
[On] est bien fou de cerveau
Qui prétend contenter tout le monde et son père.
Book III (1668), fable 1.
Fables (1668–1679)
“Be advised that all flatterers live at the expense of those who listen to them.”
Apprenez que tout flatteur
Vit aux dépens de celui qui l'écoute.
Book I (1668), fable 2. Variant translations: Learn now that every flatterer lives at the cost of those who give him credit.
In exchange for your cheese I will give you a piece of advice for the future — Do not trust flatterers.
Every flatterer lives at the expense of him who listens to him.
Fables (1668–1679)
“Better to suffer than to die: that is mankind's motto.”
Plutôt souffrir que mourir,
C'est la devise des hommes.
Book I (1668), fable 16.
Fables (1668–1679)
Variant: Rather suffer than die is man's motto.
Book VII (1678–1679), fable 9.
Fables (1668–1679)
Je plie, et ne romps pas.
Book I (1668), fable 22.
Fables (1668–1679)
