“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)
Variante: 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)
Variante: 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)