Authors
Topics
Lists
Pictures
Resources
More about Jean de La Fontaine
Jean de La Fontaine Quotes
44 Sourced Quotes
Source
Report...
A person often meets his destiny on the road he took to avoid it.
Jean de La Fontaine
Source
Report...
History some truths contains, which well may serve
For lessons. In my work you will observe
Every thing speaks — yea e'en the very fish —
And what they say, to every man a dish
Serves up; and I of animals make choice
That men may get instruction from their voice.
Jean de La Fontaine
Source
Report...
Man is so made that whenever anything fires his soul, impossibilities vanish.
Jean de La Fontaine
Source
Report...
Our destiny is frequently met in the very paths we take to avoid it.
Jean de La Fontaine
Source
Report...
A certain fox, it is said, wanted to become a wolf. Ah! who can say why no wolf has ever craved the life of a sheep?
Jean de La Fontaine
Source
Report...
Be advised that all flatterers live at the expense of those who listen to them.
Jean de La Fontaine
Source
Report...
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.
Jean de La Fontaine
Source
Report...
"They are too green", he said, "and only good for fools".
Jean de La Fontaine
Source
Report...
There's nothing useless to a man of sense.
Jean de La Fontaine
Source
Report...
Folly was condemned to serve as a guide to Love whom she had blinded.
Jean de La Fontaine
Source
Report...
He knows the universe, and himself he does not know.
Jean de La Fontaine
Source
Report...
It is difficult for a woman to keep a secret: and I know more than one man who is a woman.
Jean de La Fontaine
Source
Report...
Everyone calls himself a friend, but only a fool relies on it; nothing is commoner than the name, nothing rarer than the thing.
Jean de La Fontaine
Source
Report...
It is a double pleasure to deceive the deceiver.
Jean de La Fontaine
Source
Report...
Nothing weighs so heavy as a secret; women find it difficult to carry one far. And I know a lot of men who are just like women about this.
Jean de La Fontaine
Source
Report...
Fond youth flatters itself that all must heed its prayer.
Jean de La Fontaine
Source
Report...
Patience and time do more than strength or passion.
Jean de La Fontaine
Source
Report...
Never sell the bear's skin before one has killed the beast.
Jean de La Fontaine
Source
Report...
For animals I choose To proffer lessons that we all might use.
Jean de La Fontaine
Source
Report...
O tyrant love, when held by you,
We may to prudence bid adieu.
[Fr., Amour! Amour! quand tu nous tiens
On peut bien dire, Adieu, prudence.]
Jean de La Fontaine
Source
Report...
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.
Jean de La Fontaine
Source
Report...
By time and toil we sever What strength and rage could never.
Jean de La Fontaine
Source
Report...
Le mensonge et les vers de tout temps sont amis. Lies and literature have always been friends.
Jean de La Fontaine
Source
Report...
One should oblige everyone to the extent of one's ability. One often needs someone smaller than oneself.
Jean de La Fontaine
Source
Report...
Let ignorance talk as it will, learning has its value.
Jean de La Fontaine
1
2
Quote of the day
A mighty pain to love it is, And 't is a pain that pain to miss; But of all pains, the greatest pain It is to love, but love in vain.
Abraham Cowley
Jean de La Fontaine
Creative Commons
Born:
July 8, 1621
Died:
April 13, 1695
(aged 73)
Bio:
Jean de La Fontaine was the most famous French fabulist and one of the most widely read French poets of the 17th century.
Known for:
La Fontaine's Fables (1694)
The Wolf and the Lamb
Selected Fables
The Ant and the Grasshopper
Fables Choisies
Most used words:
man
friend
serve
patience
wise
live
Jean de La Fontaine on Wikipedia
Jean de La Fontaine works on Gutenberg Project
Jean de La Fontaine works on Wikisource
Suggest an edit or a new quote
French Poet Quotes
Poet Quotes
17th-century Poet Quotes
Related People
Aesop
Greek Author
Molière
French Playwright
Charles Perrault
French Author
Featured Authors
Lists
Predictions that didn't happen
If it's on the Internet it must be true
Remarkable Last Words (or Near-Last Words)
Picture Quotes
Confucius
Philip James Bailey
Eleanor Roosevelt
Letitia Elizabeth Landon
Popular Topics
life
love
nature
time
god
power
human
mind
work
art
heart
thought
men
day
×
Lib Quotes