Jean de La Fontaine Quotes
1621–1695 France
Jean de La Fontaine (July 8 1621 – April 13 1695) is a famous French fabulist and the most widely read French poet of the 17th century.
- France
- Academics
- Novelists
- Poets
Also known as: Fontaine, Jean de Lafontaine, La Fontaine, La Fontaine, Jean de
Random Jean de La Fontaine quote
72 quotes
The ant is no lender; that is the least of her faults.
Fables (1668)
Better to suffer than to die: that is mankind's motto.
Fables (1668)
Let ignorance talk as it will, learning has its value.
Fables (1668)
He knows the universe, and himself he does not know.
Fables (1668)
Every newspaper editor owes tribute to the devil.
Lettre à Simon de Troyes (1686)
It is a double pleasure to deceive the deceiver.
Fables (1668)
Neither blows from pitchfork, nor from the lash, can make him change his ways.
He knoweth the universe, and himself he knoweth not.
We ought never to scoff at the wretched, for who can be sure of continued happiness?
Let fools the studious despise,
There's nothing lost by being wise.
O tyrant love, when held by you,
We may to prudence bid adieu.
Learn now that every flatterer lives at the cost of those who give him credit.
Everyone calls himself a friend, but only a fool relies on it; nothing is commoner than the name, nothing rarer than the thing.
Don’t force your powers unduly, if you aim at a graceful effect.
'Tis thus we heed no instincts but our own;
Believe no evil till the evil's done.
Fables (1668)
Nothing is so dangerous as an ignorant friend; a wise enemy is worth more.
From a distance it is something; and nearby it is nothing.
The reasoning of the strongest is always the best.
The reason of the strongest is always the best.
Silent people are dangerous; others are not so.