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You don’t have to aspire to be a Francophile to enjoy this collection of well-known and not-so-well-known French phrases. They touch on a variety of issues and, despite the fact that Franco-American relations may be difficult to imagine these days, they include the similarities between our two cultures. Although, politically speaking, the US-French relationship has too often become one of combat, one that seems to be based on the assumption that the United States and France are in some way “enemies”, it is all the more flattering to realize how common our two cultures seem to think. Is it possible that the problems between these two regions lie in the very similarities they share with each other?
Faites-vous des amis prompts à vous censorer.
Make friends with those who criticize you easily.
Boileau
Le plus grand faible des hommes, c’est l’amour qu’ils ont de la vie.
The greatest weakness of man is his love of life.
Moliere.
La verité vaut bien qu’on passe quelques années sans la trouver.
The truth is worth more if it finds you in a few years.
Renard
La parfaite valeur est de faire sans temoin ce qu’on serait capax de faire devant tout le monde.
True power lies in the secret, which you could easily do with others.
La Rochefoucauld.
A vaincre sans peril, on triumph sans gloire.
To win without danger is to triumph without glory.
Corneille.
Le travail eloigne de nous trois grands maux: l’ennui, le vice et le besoin.
Work frees us from three great evils: boredom, disability, and poverty.
Voltaire
With each blow he draws his masters.
He who is flattered by his superiors betrays him.
Massillon.
Le temps est un grand maitre, he said, le malheur est qu’il tue ses elèves.
We say teacher big time. It is too bad that he kills all his disciples.
Berlioz
Du sublime au ridiculous il n’y a qu’un pas
As the ultrices foot from the sublime ridiculous.
Napoleon
Qui craint de souffrir, il souffre déjà de ce qu’il craint.
He who fears pain already hurts what he fears.
La Fontaine.
Un sot trouve toujours un plus sot qui l’admire.
A fool can always be found, even a greater fool is he who is surprised.
Boileau.
Rien ne pèse tant que un secret.
He considers nothing more than a mystery.
La Fontaine.
Generally, the people who save peu speak becoup, and the people who save beaucoup speak peu.
Usually people who know little talk a lot and people who know a lot talk a lot little.
Rousseau
Ce n’est pas tant d’être riche qui fait le bonheur, c’est de le devenir
It’s not so much being rich that makes you happy, it’s that being rich does.
Stendhal.
Quand on a le droit de se tromper impunément, on est toujours sûr de réussir.
If you are allowed to fail, you are sure to succeed.
Renan
Le vrai philosphe n’attend rien des homes, et il leur fait tout le bien don’t il est capable.
A true philosopher expects nothing from others, and offers them the best he can give.
Voltaire
Le travail n’épouvante que les ames faibles.
Labors only frighten feeble souls.
Louis XIV.
It is difficult to overcome one’s passions and impossible to satisfy them.
It is difficult to control your desires and it is impossible to satisfy them.
De La Sabliere.
La parole nous a ete donnée pour deguiser notre pensee.
Prayers are given to hide our thoughts.
Talleyrand.
To understand is to forgive.
To understand is to forgive.
De Stael.
Les vrais paradis sont les paradis qu’on a perdus
The real paradise is the one you have lost.
Proust
L’orgueil is le consoleteur des faibles.
Pride is the consolation of the weak.
Vauvenargues
Ce qui manque aux orateurs en profundeur, ils vous le donnent en longueur.
What the speaker lacks in depth, it makes up for in length.
Montesquieu
The one who obeys is presque toujours meilleur que the one who commands.
He who obeys is generally better than he who commands.
Renan
La nécessité nous délivre de l’embarras du choix.
Necessity saves the trouble of choosing.
Vauvenargues
On finit toujours par mépriser ceux qui sont trop facilement de notre avis.
At last they were ready to accept the sentence of contempt.
Renan
Méfiez-vous de tout le monde, et particulier de ceux qui conseillent de vous méfier.
Do not believe anyone, especially those who advise you not to believe anyone.
La Robertie.
Toute méchanceté comes from weakness.
Humility comes from weakness.
Rousseau
Il y a deux manières d’être malheureux: ou désirer ce que l’on n’a pas, ou posséder ce que l’on desirait.
It is doubly miserable: to long for what you do not have, or to have at last obtained what you wished for.
Louis.
En art comme en amour, l’instinct suffit.
Whether it’s art or love, your instinct will be enough.
France
L’ignorance est toujours prete a s’amirer.
Ignorance is always ready to surprise itself.
Boileau.
Passer pour un idiot aux yeux d’un imbécile est une volupté de fin gourmet.
To see a fool in the eyes of a madman is a pleasure worthy of a noble eater.
Courteline.
C’est une grande habilité que de savoir cacher son habilité.
It is a great art to hide what you have.
Rochefoucauld.
La gratitudo, comme le lait, tourne a l’aigre, si le vase qui la contient n’est pas scrupeleusement propre.
Grace, like milk, turns sour if the container is not clean.
Gourmont.
Le genie is une longue patience.
Patience is talent.
Buffon
Il y a des gens qui n’ont de leur fortune que la crainte de la perdre.
There are those who lose nothing from their fortunes except through fear.
Rivarol
Le monde appelle fous ceux qui ne sont pas fous de la folie commune.
Those who do not participate in common madness are called insane.
Roland
And those who do nothing must never deceive themselves.
Those who never do anything, never do anything wrong.
Banville.
L’ennui est entré dans le monde par la paresse
Tribulation comes to the world through laziness.
La Bruyere.
La vraie eloquence se moque de l’éloquence, la vraie morale se moque de la morale.
Truth mocks vanity, truth mocks manners.
Easter
Je me suis souvent repenti d’avoir parlé, mais jamais de m’être tu
He often regretted speaking, but never not.
Of the Commynes.
On ne peut desirer ce qu’on ne connaît pas.
You can’t miss what you don’t know.
Voltaire
Fuyez un ennemi qui sait votre faut
Fear the enemy who knows your weakness.
Corneille.
La cuisine, c’est quand les choses ont le gout de ce qu’elles sont.
It is a beautiful concoction with what you have tasted.
Curnonsky.
La critique est aisée, mais l’art est difficult.
Criticism is easy, art is difficult.
Absolved.
Le courage, c’est l’art d’avoir peur sans que cela paraisse
Power is the art of intimidating and not showing.
Veron
Les grandes pensées viennent du coeur.
The greatest thoughts come from the heart.
Vauvenargues
Les homes ne croient jamais les autres capaces de ce qu’ils ne le sont pas eux-mêmes.
People never believe that they can do what they cannot do themselves.
Of Gondi.
He who is a bon coeur is never sot.
He who has a good mind cannot be a fool.
St.
Pour vivre heureux, living cache.
If you want to live happily, live in hiding.
