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Can such bitterness enter into the heart of the devout?

— Nicolas Boileau-Despréaux Le Lutrin (1683)

Tant de fiel entre-t-il dans l'âme des dévots ?

Original text (French)

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Religion

More quotes by Nicolas Boileau-Despréaux

Honor is like an island, rugged and without a beach; once we have left it, we can never return.

Satires (1716)

Time flies and draws us with it. The moment in which I am speaking is already far from me.

Épitres (1701)

Hasten slowly, and without losing heart,
Put your work twenty times upon the anvil.

The Art of Poetry (1674)

Happy the poet who with ease can steer
From grave to gay, from lively to severe.

The Art of Poetry (1674)

Every age has its pleasures, its style of wit, and its own ways.

The Art of Poetry (1674)

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Science and religion are two human enterprises sharing many features.

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The moment the idea is admitted into society, that property is not as sacred as the law of God, and that there is not a force of law and public justice to protect it, anarchy and tyranny commence.

John Adams A Defence of the Constitutions of Government (1787)

The Puritan hated bear-baiting, not because it gave pain to the bear, but because it gave pleasure to the spectators.

Thomas Babington Macaulay History of England (1849)

Attribution

Quote text and notes from Wikiquote: Nicolas Boileau-Despréaux (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Source quality and labels are our own summary of what Wikiquote records.