France

Explore 470 quotes by people from France

Everyone complains of his memory, and no one complains of his judgment.

François de La Rochefoucauld

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Topic

Memory Self-criticism

Author

François de La Rochefoucauld

Source

Reflections

Medium

Epigram

Language

French

Time

1678 1670s 17th century

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

La Rochefoucauld, Francois. Reflexions ou sentences et maximes morales [Reflections; or Sentences and Moral Maxims]. c. 1665.

Current Citation

La Rochefoucauld, Francois. Collected Maxims and Other Reflections, translated by E. H. and A. M. Blackmore and Francine Giguere. Oxford University Press, 2008.

There is no such thing as "natural law": this expression is nothing but old nonsense…Prior to laws, what is natural is only the strength of the lion, or the need of the creature suffering from hunger or cold, in short, need.

Stendhal

The Red and the Black

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Topic

Natural law Might makes right

Author

Stendhal

Source

The Red and the Black

Medium

Novel

Language

French

Time

1819 1810s 19th century

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Stendhal. Le Rouge et le Noir: Chronique du XIXe siècle [The Red and the Black: A Chronicle of the 19th Century]. Vol. 2, Paris: A. Levasseur, c. 1830, ch. 44.

Current Citation

Stendhal. The Red and the Black, translated by Catherine Slater. Oxford University Press, 2009, bk. 2, ch. 44.

I'll tell you a big secret mon cher. Don't wait for the Last Judgment. It takes place every day.

Albert Camus

The Fall

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Topic

Being present Life Judgment Day The human condition

Author

Albert Camus

Source

The Fall

Medium

Novel

Genre

Philosophical literature

Statement Type

Advice

Language

French

Time

1956 1950s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Camus, Albert. La Chute [The Fall]. Editions Gallimard, 1956.

Illness is the doctor to whom we pay most heed; to kindness, to knowledge, we make promise only; pain we obey.

Marcel Proust

In Search of Lost Time

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Topic

Pain Suffering

Author

Marcel Proust

Source

In Search of Lost Time

Medium

Novel

Genre

Modernist literature

Language

French

Time

1922 1920s 20th century

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Proust, Marcel. Sodom and Gomorrah. Paris: Grasset/Gallimard, 1921-1922.

Current Citation

Proust, Marcel. Sodom and Gomorrah, translated by John Sturrock. Penguin Classics, 2005.

Sisyphyus, proletarian of the gods, powerless and rebellious, knows the whole extent of his wretched condition: it is what he thinks of during his descent. The lucidity that was to constitute his torture at the same time crowns his victory. There is no fate that cannot be surmounted by scorn.

Albert Camus

The Myth of Sisyphus

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Topic

Absurdity of life The human condition

Author

Albert Camus

Source

The Myth of Sisyphus

Medium

Essay

Genre

Philosophical literature

Language

French

Time

1942 1950s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Camus, Albert. Le Mythe de Sisyphe [The Myth of Sisyphus]. Éditions Gallimard, 1942.

Cooking is the most ancient of arts, for Adam was born hungry.

Jean Anthelme Brillat-Savarin

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Topic

Cooking Food

Author

Jean Anthelme Brillat-Savarin

Source

The Physiology of Taste

Genre

Food writing

Language

French

Time

1825 1820s 19th century

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Brillat-Savarin, Jean Anthelme. The Physiology of Taste [Physiologie du Goût]. Paris, 1825, meditation 27.

Current Citation

Brillat-Savarin, Jean Anthelme. The Physiology of Taste: Or Meditations on Transcendental Gastronomy, translated by M. F. K. Fisher. Vintage, 2011, meditation 27.

Man, being condemned to be free carries the weight of the whole world on his shoulders; he is responsible for the world and himself as a way of being.

Jean-Paul Sartre

Being and Nothingness

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Topic

Downsides of freedom Freedom Personal responsibility

Author

Jean-Paul Sartre

Source

Being and Nothingness

Medium

Essay

Genre

Philosophical literature

Language

French

Time

1943 1940s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Original Citation

Sartre, Jean Paul. Le etre et le neant: Essai d'ontologie phenomenologique [Being and Nothingness: An Essay on Phenomenological Ontology]. Librairie Gallimard, 1943, pt. 4, ch. 1.

Current Citation

Sartre, Jean Paul. Being and Nothingness, translated by Sarah Richmond. Washington Square Press, 2021, pt. 4, ch. 1.

O liberty! O liberty! What crimes are committed in thy name!

Alphonse de Lamartine

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Topic

Freedom

Speaker

Jeanne Manon Philipon Roland de la Platiere [Madame Roland]

Author

Alphonse de Lamartine

Source

Histoire des Girondins

Genre

Historical literature

Language

French

Time

1793 1790s 18th century

Authentication Score 1

Citation

Madame Roland. Last words before her execution by guillotine. 8 Nov. 1793, Paris, France.

There is no man, good as he may be, who, if all his thoughts and actions were submitted to the scrutiny of the laws, would not deserve hanging ten times in his life.

Michel de Montaigne

Essays

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Topic

Inner life Thoughts vs. actions Thoughts

Author

Michel de Montaigne

Source

Of Vanity Essays

Medium

Essay

Language

French

Time

1580 1580s 16th century

Era

European Renaissance

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

De Montaigne, Michel. "De la Vanite [Of Vanity]." Essais [Essays]. Paris: Simon Millanges and Jean Richer, 1580.

Current Citation

De Montaigne, Michel. "On Vanity." The Complete Essays, edited and translated by M. A. Screech. Penguin Classics, 1993.

Bees ransack flowers here and there, but then they make honey, which is entirely theirs: it is no longer thyme or marjoram. Similarly a boy will transform and mix his borrowings.

Michel de Montaigne

Essays

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Topic

Creativity Originality

Author

Michel de Montaigne

Source

Of the Education of Children Essays

Medium

Essay

Statement Type

Metaphor, analogy and simile

Language

French

Time

1580 1580s 16th century

Era

European Renaissance

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

De Montaigne, Michel. "De l'Institution des Enfants [Of the Education of Children]." Essais [Essays]. Paris: Simon Millanges and Jean Richer, 1580.

Current Citation

De Montaigne, Michel. "On Educating Children." The Complete Essays, edited and translated by M. A. Screech. Penguin Classics, 1993.

Since those whose duty it was to hold the sword of France have let it fall, I have picked up its broken point.

Charles de Gaulle

More information about this quote

Topic

French Resistance World War II

Speaker

Charles de Gaulle

Medium

Radio broadcast

Language

French

Time

1940 1940s 20th century

Authentication Score 1

Original Citation

De Gaulle, Charles. Address on the Eve of France's National Day. 13 July 1940. France. Radio address.

Current Citation

De Gaulle, Charles. "July 13, 1940." The Speeches of General de Gaulle. Oxford University Press, 1944.

A man of high principle will be ready to sacrifice to the state his wealth, his life, his very nature-everything, indeed, except his honor.

Maximilien Robespierre

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Topic

Citizen and state

Author

Maximilien Robespierre

Medium

Essay

Language

French

Time

1784 1780s 18th century

Authentication Score 1

Citation

Robespierre, Maximilien. Discours sur les peines infamantes [Discorse on Infamous]. 1784, The Academy of Sciences, Letters and Arts of Arras, Arras, France.

Every flower is a soul blossoming in nature.

Gerard de Nerval

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Topic

Flowers

Author

Gerard de Nerval

Source

Golden Lines

Medium

Poem

Language

French

Time

1843 1840s 19th century

Authentication Score 0

Citation

Nerval, Gerard De. Vers Dores. c. 1843, l. 8.

There is scarcely a single man sufficiently aware to know all the evil he does.

François de La Rochefoucauld [François VI, Duc de la Rochefoucauld, Prince de Marcillac]

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Topic

Effect on others Self-awareness Unintended consequences

Author

François de La Rochefoucauld [François VI, Duc de la Rochefoucauld, Prince de Marcillac]

Source

Reflections

Medium

Epigram

Language

French

Time

1678 1670s 17th century

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

La Rochefoucauld, Francois. Reflexions ou sentences et maximes morales [Reflections; or Sentences and Moral Maxims]. c. 1665.

Current Citation

La Rochefoucauld, Francois. Collected Maxims and Other Reflections, translated by E. H. and A. M. Blackmore and Francine Giguere. Oxford University Press, 2008.

Absence diminishes commonplace passions and increases great ones, as the wind extinguishes candles and kindles fire.

François de La Rochefoucauld [François VI, Duc de la Rochefoucauld, Prince de Marcillac]

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Topic

Absence

Author

François de La Rochefoucauld [François VI, Duc de la Rochefoucauld, Prince de Marcillac]

Source

Reflections

Medium

Epigram

Statement Type

Metaphor, analogy and simile

Language

French

Time

1678 1670s 17th century

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

La Rochefoucauld, Francois. Reflexions ou sentences et maximes morales [Reflections; or Sentences and Moral Maxims]. c. 1665.

Current Citation

La Rochefoucauld, Francois. Collected Maxims and Other Reflections, translated by E. H. and A. M. Blackmore and Francine Giguere. Oxford University Press, 2008.

Art is a way of recognizing oneself, which is why it will always be modern.

Louise Bourgeois

More information about this quote

Topic

Nature of art Self-awareness Self-discovery Self-knowledge Art

Speaker

Louise Bourgeois

Source

Bourgeois

Medium

Interview

Language

English

Time

20th century

Authentication Score 1

Citation

Kuspit, Donald Burton. Interviewed by Louise Bourgeois. 1988.

There is room for everybody in America; has he any particular talent or industry? He exerts it in order to procure a livelihood, and it succeeds.

J. Hector St. John de Crevecoeur

Letters from an American Farmer

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Topic

America

Author

J. Hector St. John de Crevecoeur

Source

Letters from an American Farmer

Language

English

Time

1782 1780s 18th century

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Crevecoeur, Michel Guillaume Jean [published as J. Hector St. John]. "What Is an American?" Letters from an American Farmer. London: Davies & Davies, 1782.

Current Citation

Crevecoeur, J. Hector St. John. "Letters From an American Farmer." Letters From an American Farmer and Sketches of Eighteenth-Century America, edited by Albert E. Stone. Penguin Classics, 1981.

There is love, of course. And then there's life, its enemy.

Jean Anouilh

More information about this quote

Topic

Love

Speaker

General

Author

Jean Anouilh

Source

Ardèle ou la Marguerite

Medium

Play

Language

French

Time

1948 1940s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Original Citation

Anouilh, Jean. Ardèle ou la Marguerite. Directed by Roland Piétri. 1948, Comédie des Champs-Élysées, Paris, France.

Current Citation

Anouilh, Jean. "Ardele." Jean Anouilh: Five Plays. Vol. 2, Hill & Wang, 1966.

Man is a successful animal, that's all.

Remy de Gourmont

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Topic

Nature of man

Author

Remy de Gourmont

Language

French

Time

1905 1900s 20th century

Authentication Score 1

Citation

De Gourmont, Remy. Promenades Philosophiques. c. 1905.

O time, arrest your flight! and you, propitious hours, arrest your course! Let us savor the fleeting delights of our most beautiful days.

Alphonse de Lamartine

The Lake

More information about this quote

Topic

Ephemeral nature of time Time

Author

Alphonse de Lamartine

Source

The Lake

Language

French

Time

1820 1820s 19th century

Authentication Score 1

Citation

De Lamartine, Alphonse. "Le Lac [The Lake]." Recueillements poétiques [Poetic Meditations]. Paris: Imp P. Didot L'aine, 1820.