Inspirational Quotations

Inspirational Quotes by Jean de La Fontaine (French Poet)

Jean de La Fontaine (1621–95) was a French poet and man of letters who chose to work in relatively unexplored genres—the fable and the verse tale, for example. His fables, compared to those of Aesop and the Pañcatantra, rank among the greatest masterpieces of French literature.

Born in Château-Thierry, Champagne, La Fontaine dedicated himself to studying the old writers and to verse writing. In 1654, he published a verse translation of Terence’s play Eunuchus, and then went to Paris, where the French finance minister Nicolas Fouquet became his benefactor.

La Fontaine’s Fables choisies, mises en vers (1668–94; Fables, 1804) comprise 12 books of some 240 fables. They were drawn from oriental, classical, and contemporary sources. Beyond children’s literature, they embrace the sophisticated satire of conventional wisdom and morality.

In 1683, La Fontaine was elected to the Académie Française.

More: Wikipedia READ: Works by Jean de La Fontaine

What a wonderful thing it is to have a good friend. He identities your innermost desires, and spares you the embarrassment of disclosing them to him yourself.
Jean de La Fontaine
Topics: Candor, Friendship

Beware, so long as you live, of judging men by their outward appearance.
Jean de La Fontaine
Topics: Appearance

Neither wealth or greatness render us happy.
Jean de La Fontaine
Topics: Greatness, Greatness & Great Things

Everyone has his faults which he continually repeats: neither fear nor shame can cure them.
Jean de La Fontaine
Topics: Mistakes, Faults

It is twice the pleasure to deceive the deceiver.
Jean de La Fontaine
Topics: Deception/Lying, Deception

Everyone has a wallet behind for his own failings, and one before for the failings of others.
Jean de La Fontaine

Nothing is more dangerous than a friend without discretion; even a prudent enemy is preferable.
Jean de La Fontaine
Topics: Judgment, Friendship, Judging

Everyone believes very easily whatever they fear or desire.
Jean de La Fontaine
Topics: Desire, Belief

Patience and the passage of time do more than strength and fury.
Jean de La Fontaine
Topics: Patience

The worst time is always the present.
Jean de La Fontaine
Topics: The Past

Half of today is better than all of tomorrow.
Jean de La Fontaine
Topics: The Present, Tomorrow

In this world we must help one another.
Jean de La Fontaine
Topics: Helping, Service

Patience is a virtue, Virtue is a grace; Both put together Make a very pretty face
Jean de La Fontaine
Topics: Patience

Luck’s always to blame.
Jean de La Fontaine
Topics: Luck

Even if misfortune is only good for bringing a fool to his senses, it would still be just to deem it good for something.
Jean de La Fontaine
Topics: Difficulties, Adversity

A person often meets his destiny on the road he took to avoid it.
Jean de La Fontaine
Topics: Fate, Self-Discovery

Nothing is so dangerous as an ignorant friend.
Jean de La Fontaine
Topics: Danger

Nothing is useless to the man of sense; he turns everything to account.
Jean de La Fontaine
Topics: Intelligence

From a distance it is something; and nearby it is nothing.
Jean de La Fontaine
Topics: Anxiety, Fear

Still people are dangerous.
Jean de La Fontaine
Topics: Manners, Danger, Behavior

One returns to the place one came from.
Jean de La Fontaine
Topics: Home

I bend, but I do not break.
Jean de La Fontaine
Topics: Endurance, Resolve, Courage, Perseverance

The more wary you are of danger, the more likely you are to meet it.
Jean de La Fontaine
Topics: Optimism, Positive Attitudes

Help yourself, and Heaven will help you.
Jean de La Fontaine
Topics: Self-reliance, Independence, Prayer

We are never content with our lot.
Jean de La Fontaine
Topics: Appreciation, Blessings, Gratitude

One often has need of one, inferior to himself.
Jean de La Fontaine
Topics: Inferiority

We only listen to those instincts which are our own, and only give credit to the evil when it has befallen us.
Jean de La Fontaine

Friendship is the shadow of the evening, which strengthens with the setting sun of life.
Jean de La Fontaine
Topics: Friends, Friendship

In everything one must consider the end.
Jean de La Fontaine
Topics: Aspirations, Goals

The argument of the strongest is always the best.
Jean de La Fontaine
Topics: Argument

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