Quotes from Moliere

Aspire to the knowledge which is in the family, and feel the sweet charms which the love of study instils into peoples hearts. Far from being a submissive slave to the laws of men, wed yourself to Philosophy, sister, which elevates us above the whole human race, and invests reason with sovereign sway, subjecting to her laws the animal part, of which the gross appetite places us on a level with brutes.

Je veux qu'on soit sincère, et qu'en homme d'honneur, On ne lâche aucun mot qui ne parte du coeur.

Mon Dieu, que vous êtes vulgaire ! Pour moi, un de mes étonnements, c'est que vous ayez pu faire une fille si spirituelle que moi.

Le premier regle est de plaire

Le temps qui fuit nous y convie Profitons de la vie Autant que nous pouvons.

ARNOLPHE. WAS SHE sad after I went away? Georgette. Sad? No. Arnolphe. No? Georgette. Yes, yes. Arnolphe. Why, then? Georgette. May I die on the spot, but she expected to see you return every minute; and we never heard a horse, an ass, or a mule pass by without her thinking it was you.

What the deuce does he mean by all this? I thought I had found a clever man who would give me good advice, and I find a chimney-sweep, who, instead of speaking to me, plays at mora.

You take pains for me which are unnecessary; learned conversations are not at all in my way: I love to live at ease; and, in whatever is said, one must take too much trouble to become clever; it is an ambition which does not at all enter my mind. I find myself very well, mother, in being stupid; and I prefer having nothing but common-place talk to tormenting myself to say fine words.

Womankind is, in fact, the soup of man, And when a man perceives that others wish To dip their dirty fingers into his dish, His temper flares, and bursts into a flame.

Arnolphe. Were you not wearied? Agnès. I am never wearied. Arnolphe. What did you do then, these nine or ten days? Agnès. Six shirts, I think, and six nightcaps also.

Las cosas no valen sino lo que se las hace valer.

Good Heaven, friend, do not trouble yourself. He will be a clever man who catches me in this way. I know all the cunning tricks and subtle devices which women use to deceive us, and how one is fooled by their dexterity, and I have taken precautions against this mischance. She whom I am marrying possesses all the innocence which may protect my forehead from evil influence.

You have believed very wrongly, and I will be bound that a learned fool is more foolish than an ignorant fool.

Ur. What is your ailment, then? When did it seize you? Cl. Above three hours ago; and I brought it from the Palais Royal. Ur. How? Cl. I have just seen, as a punishment for my sins, that villainous rhapsody The School for Wives. I feel still a twinge from the-fainting-fit which it gave me; I believe I shall not be myself again for a fortnight.

Si vous songez à nourrir votre esprit, / C'est de viande bien creuse, à ce que chacun dit.

Esa frialdad cruel con que los hombres pagan la mayoría de las veces las manifestaciones demasiado ardientes de un amor puro.

Cl. In short, we ought to be blind throughout this play, and pretend not to see anything in it. Ur. We ought not to see what is not there.

The world is only too glad to discover anything to carp at.

Nous avons été jusqu'ici dans un jeûne effroyable de divertissements.

Les gens de qualité savent tout, sans avoir jamais rien appris. People of quality know everything without ever having learned anything.

WHAT, WILL THE star which is bent on driving me to despair allow me no time to breathe? Am I to see, through their mutual understanding, my watchful care and my wisdom defeated one after another? Must I, in my mature age, become the dupe of a simple girl and a scatter-brained young fellow?

Así va el mundo. Muchos adquieren opinión de doctos, no por lo que efectivamente saben, sino por el concepto que forma de ellos la ignorancia de los demás.

A lover pays his court where his heart has taken root; he aims at gaining every one's favour in that spot; and so as to have no one opposed to his flame, he endeavours to please the very house-dog.

Plus grand est l'obstacle, plus grande est la gloire de le surmonter.