Better a living beggar than a buried emperor.
What a wonderful thing it is to have a good friend. He identifies your innermost desires, and spares you the embarrassment of disclosing them to him yourself.
Sensible people find nothing useless.
A cheerful mind is a vigorous mind.
From a distance it is something; and nearby it is nothing.
We read on the foreheads of those who are surrounded by a foolish luxury, that fortune sells what she is thought to give.
We become innocent when we are unfortunate.
There is no road of flowers leading to glory.
It is said, that the thing you possess is worth more than two you may have in the future. The one is sure and the other is not.
By time and toil we sever What strength and rage could never.
But every one has a besetting sin to which he returns.
Example is a dangerous lure: where the wasp got through the gnat sticks fast.
Everyone believes very easily whatever they fear or desire.
What God does, He does well.
One often has need of one inferior to himself.
We like to see others, but don't like others to see through us.
Every flatterer lives at the expense of him who listens to him.
By the work one knows the workman.
The fastidious are unfortunate: nothing can satisfy them. [Lat., Les delicats sont malheureux, Rien ne saurait les satisfaire.]
Diversity, that is my motto.
In short, luck's always to blame.
Man is so made that when anything fires his soul, impossibilities vanish.
Patience et longueur de temps Font plus que force ni que rage. Patience and longevity Are worth more than force and rage.
We heed no instincts but our own.
We are never content with our lot.
Patience and perseverance at lengthAccomplish more than anger or brute strength.
In this world we must help one another.
Rely only on yourself; it is a common proverb.
In everything we ought to look at the end.
Men of all ages have the same inclinations, over which reason exercises no control. Thus, wherever men are found, there are follies, ay, and the same follies.
We believe no evil till the evil's done
To hell with pleasure that's haunted by fear.
Imitators are a slavish herd and fools in my opinion.
Le mensonge et les vers de tout temps sont amis. Lies and literature have always been friends.
It is impossible to please all the world and one's father.
People must help one another; it is nature's law.
Friendship is the shadow of the evening, which increases with the setting sun of life.
Rogues are always found out in some way. Whoever is a wolf will act like a wolf, that is most certain.
Sadness flies away on the wings of time.
Still people are dangerous.
Lynx-eyes toward our equals, and moles to ourselves. [Fr., Lynx envers nos pareils, et taupes envers nous.]
Never sell the bear's skin before one has killed the beast.
It is no use running; to set out betimes is the main point.
Everyone has his faults which he continually repeats: neither fear nor shame can cure them.
Often we find our own destiny on the same roads that we have been avoiding.
We love good looks rather than what is practical, Though good looks may prove destructive.
The finest victory is to conquer one's own heart.
To win a race, the swiftness of a dart Availeth not without a timely start
Half of today is better than all of tomorrow.
Let ignorance talk as it will, learning has its value.
Anyone entrusted with power will abuse it if not also animated with the love of truth and virtue, no matter whether he be a prince, or one of the people.
We ought to consider the end in everything.
He is very foolish who aims at satisfying all the world and his father.
No favor can win gratitude from a cat.
We risk all in being too greedy.
If every man works at that for which nature fitted him, the cows will be well tended.
The argument of the strongest is always the best.
One should oblige everyone to the extent of one's ability. One often needs someone smaller than oneself.
Tis thus we heed no instincts but our own, Believe no evil, till the evil's done. [Fr., Nous n'ecoutons d'instincts que ceux qui sont les notres. Et ne croyons le mal que quand il est venu.]
You've tried to reform what will not learn. Shut doors on traits that you wish were dead; They will open a window and return.
Nothing weighs on us so heavily as a secret.
Everyone calls himself a friend, but only a fool relies on it; nothing is commoner than the name, nothing rarer than the thing.
Nothing weighs more than a secret.
The sign brings customers.
Love cries victory when the tears of a woman become the sole defence of her virtue.
Better to rely on one powerful king than on many little princes.
Gentleness succeeds better than violence.
Rare as is true love, true friendship is rarer.
There's nothing sweeter than a real friend: Not only is he prompt to lend— An angler delicate, he fishes The very deepest of your wishes, And spares your modesty the task His friendly aid to ask. A dream, a shadow, wakes his fear, When pointing at the object dear.
Let us not overstrain our talents, lest we do nothing gracefully: a clown, whatever he may do, will never pass for a gentleman. [Fr., Ne forcons point notre talent; Nous ne ferions rien avec grace: Jamais un lourdaud, quoi qu'il fasse, Ne saurit passer pour galant.]
Man is ice to truth and fire to falsehood.
A pessimist and an optimist, so much the worse; so much the better.
Nothing is so dangerous as an ignorant friend; a wise enemy is worth more. [Fr., Rien n'est si dangereux qu'un ignorant ami; Mieux vaudrait un sage ennemi.]
Beware, so long as you live, of judging men by their outward appearance.
Blind fortune pursues inconsiderate rashness. [Fr., Fortune aveugle suit aveugle hardiesse.]
Neither wealth or greatness render us happy.
In every trouble the little ones duck more easily.
It is twice the pleasure to deceive the deceiver.
I bend and do not break.
Every editor of newspapers pays tribute to the devil.
Our destiny is frequently met in the very paths we take to avoid it.
The strongest passion is fear.
Women keep no secrets, and I know many men, who are women in this regard.
I bend but do not break.
To live lightheartedly but not recklessly; to be gay without being boisterous; to be courageous without being bold; to show trust and cheerful resignation without fatalism - this is the art of living.
We believe easily what we fear of what we desire
A hungry stomach cannot hear.
The more wary you are of danger, the more likely you are to meet it.
It is double pleasure to deceive the deceiver. [Fr., Car c'est double plaisir de tromper le trompeur.]
Let us not overstrain our talents, lest we do nothing gracefully.
How wealthy the gods would be if we remembered the promises we made when we were in danger.
All the brains in the world are powerless against the sort of stupidity that is in fashion.
We ought never to scoff at the wretched, for who can be sure of continued happiness?
People who make no noise are dangerous.
He knows the universe and does not know himself.
Death never takes the wise man by surprise, he is always ready to go.
I bend, but I do not break.
Socrates, when informed of some derogating speeches one had used concerning him behind his back, made only this facetious reply, "Let him beat me too when I am absent.
In everything one must consider the end.
As sheepish as a fox captured by a fowl. [Fr., Honteux comme un renard qu'une poule aurait pris.]
One should stick to the sort of thing for which one was made; I tried to be an herbalist, Whereas I should keep to the butchers trade.
Silent people are dangerous; others are not so. [Fr., Les gens sans bruit sont dangereux; Il n'en est pas ainsi des autres.]
Garde-toi, tant que tu vivras, De juger des gens sur la mine. Beware as long as you live, Of judging others according to appearance alone.
Help yourself, and Heaven will help you.
No path of flowers leads to glory.
But a rascal of a child (that age is without pity). [Fr., Mais un pripon d'enfant (cet age est sans pitie).
The worst time is always the present.
One returns to the place one came from.
He knoweth the universe, and himself he knoweth not.
If you deal with a fox, think of his tricks.
All roads lead to Rome, but our antagonists think we should choose different paths.
Be advised that all flatterers live at the expense of those who listen to them.
The best laid plot can injure its maker, and often a man's perfidy will rebound on himself.
Religious contention is the devil's harvest.
Cats know not how to pardon.
Better to suffer than to die.
Nothing is more dangerous than a friend without discretion; even a prudent enemy is preferable.
Let fools the studious despise, There's nothing lost by being wise.
A person often meets his destiny on the road he took to avoid it.
Our condition never satisfies us; the present is always the worst. Though Jupiter should grant his request to each, we should continue to importune him.
Dressed in the lion's skin, the ass spread terror far and wide.
It is good to be charitable; but to whom? That is the point. As to the ungrateful, there is not one who does not at last die miserable.
Patience and time do more than strength or passion.
But the shortest works are always the best.
Nothing is so oppressive as a secret: women find it difficult to keep one long; and I know a goodly number of men who are women in this regard.
