At times truth may not seem probable.
Original text (French)
Original text (French)
Honor is like an island, rugged and without a beach; once we have left it, we can never return.
Time flies and draws us with it. The moment in which I am speaking is already far from me.
Hasten slowly, and without losing heart,
Put your work twenty times upon the anvil.
Happy the poet who with ease can steer
From grave to gay, from lively to severe.
Every age has its pleasures, its style of wit, and its own ways.
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False words are not only evil in themselves, but they infect the soul with evil.
Wars produce many stories of fiction, some of which are told until they are believed to be true.
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.