French

Explore 473 quotes originally in French

A large nose is in fact the sign of an affable man, good, courteous, witty, liberal, courageous, such as I am.

Edmond Rostand

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Topic

Noses Body parts

Author

Edmond Rostand

Source

Cyrano de Bergerac

Medium

Play

Language

French

Time

1897 1890s 19th century

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Rostand, Edmond. Cyrano de Bergerac. 27 Dec. 1897, Theatre de la Porte Saint-Martin, Paris, France, act 1, sc. 4.

Current Citation

Rostand, Edmond. Cyrano de Bergerac, translated by Lowell Bair. Signet, 2012, act 1, sc. 4.

The whole effect of Christianity was to transfer the drama onto the moral plane.

Andre Gide

The Counterfeiters

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Topic

Christianity

Author

Andre Gide

Source

The Counterfeiters

Medium

Novel

Language

French

Time

1925 1920s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Original Citation

Gide, Andre. Les Faux-monnayeurs [The Counterfeiters]. Nouvelle Revue Francaise, 1925, pt. 1, ch. 13.

Current Citation

Gide, Andre. The Counterfeiters, translated by Dorothy Bussy. Penguin Books, 1990, pt. 1, ch. 13.

I obey Nature, and never do I dare give orders to it. My only ambition is servile fidelity to it.

Auguste Rodin

More information about this quote

Topic

Artistic process Art

Speaker

Auguste Rodin

Source

La Revenue

Medium

Interview

Language

French

Time

1910 1910s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Original Citation

Rodin, Auguste. Interviewed by Paul Gsell. La Revenue, 1910.

Current Citation

Rodin, Auguste. Quoted in Art: Conversations with Paul Gsell, written by Paul Gsell. University of California Press, 1984.

We must trust to nothing but facts: these are presented to us by nature and cannot deceive.

Antoine Lavoisier

More information about this quote

Topic

Facts Scientific method Science

Author

Antoine Lavoisier

Source

Elements of Chemistry

Genre

Scientific literature

Language

French

Time

1789 1780s 18th century

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Lavoisier, Antoine. Elements of Chemistry, in a New Systematic Order, Containing All the Modern Discoveries, translated by Robert Kerr. William Creech, 1790.

Current Citation

Lavoisier, Antoine. Elements of Chemistry, translated by Robert Kerr. Dover Publications, 1965.

There is no disguise which can hide love for long where it exists, or feign it where it does not.

François de La Rochefoucauld

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Topic

Pretend love Love

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.

A hint-don't paint too much direct from nature. Art is an abstraction! Study nature then brood on it and treasure the creation which will result, which is the only way to ascend towards God-to create like our Divine Master.

Paul Gauguin

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Topic

Nature of art Art

Author

Paul Gauguin

Medium

Letter

Statement Type

Advice

Language

French

Time

1888 1880s 19th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Gauguin, Paul. Letter to Emile Schuffenecker. 14 Aug. 1888.

What I dream of is an art of balance, of purity and serenity devoid of trouble and depressing subject matter. An art which might be for every mental worker, be he businessman or writer, like an appeasing influence, like a mental soother, something like a good armchair in which to rest from physical fatigue.

Henri Matisse

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Topic

Nature of art Art

Speaker

Henri Matisse

Source

Notes d'un Peintre

Medium

Interview

Language

French

Time

1908 1900s 20th century

Authentication Score 1

Citation

Liberman, Alexander. The Artist in His Studio. The Viking Press, 1960.

A man is not necessarily intelligent because he has plenty of ideas, any more than he is a good general because he has plenty of soldiers.

Nicolas Chamfort

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Topic

Intelligence Ideas

Author

Nicolas Chamfort

Source

Maximes et Pensées

Genre

Philosophical literature

Language

French

Time

1796 1790s 18th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Chamfort, Nicolas. Maximes et Pensees. c. 1796, no. 29.

Philosophy triumphs easily over past evils and future evils; but present evils triumph over it.

François de La Rochefoucauld

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Topic

Power of philosophy Philosophy

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.

My country is not a country, it is winter.

Gilles Vigneault

Mon Pays

More information about this quote

Topic

Canada

Speaker

Gilles Vigneault

Source

Mon Pays

Medium

Song

Language

French

Time

1964 1960s 20th century

Authentication Score 1

Citation

"Mon Pays [My Country]." La Neige a Fondu sur la Manicouagan [The Snow Has Melted on the Manicouagan]. Directed by Arthur Lamothe, composed by Gilles Vigneault, National Film Board of Canada, 1965.

It is wise to apply the oil of refined politeness to the mechanism of friendship.

Colette

More information about this quote

Topic

Politeness Friendship

Author

Colette

Source

The Pure and the Impure

Medium

Novel

Statement Type

Metaphor, analogy and simile

Language

French

Time

1932 1930s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Original Citation

Colette. Le Pur et l'impur and Ces Plaisirs [The Pure and the Impure and These Pleasures]. J. Ferenczi & fils, 1932, ch. 9.

Current Citation

Colette. The Pure and the Impure. NYRB Classics, 2000, ch. 9.

Science is built up with facts, as a house is with stones. But a collection of facts is no more a science than a heap of stones is a house.

Henri Poincaré

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Topic

Science

Author

Henri Poincaré

Source

Science and the Hypothesis

Genre

Scientific literature

Language

French

Time

1901 1900s 20th century

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Poincare, Henri. La science et l'hypothese [Science and Hypothesis]. Flammarion, 1902, ch. 9.

Current Citation

Poincare, Henri. Science and Hypothesis: The Complete Text, translated by Melanie Frappier, Andrea Smith and David J. Stump, edited by Melanie Frappier and David J. Stump. Bloomsbury Academic, 2022, ch. 9.

Man alone consumes and engulfs more flesh than all other animals put together. He is, then, the greatest destroyer, and he is so more by abuse than by necessity.

George Louis Leclerc

More information about this quote

Topic

Human destructiveness Man and animals

Author

George Louis Leclerc

Source

Histoire Naturelle

Genre

Scientific literature

Language

French

Time

1753 1750s 18th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Leclerc, Georges-Louis. Histoire Naturelle, générale et particulière, avec la description du Cabinet du Roi [Natural History, General and Particular, with a Description of the King's Cabinet]. Paris: Imprimerie royale, c. 1753.