Quotes from Jean de La Fontaine

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.

The good, we do it; the evil, that is fortune; man is always right, and destiny always wrong.

People who make no noise are dangerous.

By the work one knows the workman.

A hungry stomach cannot hear.

Friendship is the shadow of the evening, which strengthens with the setting sun of life.

There is nothing useless to men of sense.

Let ignorance talk as it will, learning has its value.

Rare as is true love, true friendship is rarer.

A person often meets his destiny on the road he took to avoid it.

Everyone calls himself a friend, but only a fool relies on it: nothing is commoner than the name, nothing rarer than the thing.

Sadness flies away on the wings of time.

Everyone believes very easily whatever he fears or desires.

Beware, so long as you live, of judging men by their outward appearance.

Nothing weighs on us so heavily as a secret.

Patience and time do more than force and rage.

Friendship is the shadow of the evening, which increases with the setting sun of life.

To hell with pleasure that's haunted by fear.

Death never takes the wise man by surprise; He is always ready to go.

Often we find our own destiny on the same roads that we have been avoiding.

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.

Apprenez que tout flatteur Vit aux dépens de celui qui l'écoute : Cette leçon vaut bien un fromage, sans doute. Flatterers thrive on fools' credulity. The lesson's worth a cheese, don't you agree?

Nothing is as dangerous as an ignorant friend; a wise enemy is to be preferred.

Every newspaper editor owes tribute to the devil.