Jean de La Fontaine: Citations en anglais

Jean de La Fontaine était poète, fabuliste, conteur et auteur dramatique français. Citations en anglais.
Jean de La Fontaine: 102   citations 9   J'aime

“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)

“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)

“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)

“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)

“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)

“Everyone calls himself a friend, but only a fool relies on it; nothing is commoner than the name, nothing rarer than the thing.”

Jean De La Fontaine livre Parole de Socrate

"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)
Variante: 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
Variante: 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)
Variante: 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)
Variante: 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)

“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.

“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)