Jean de La Fontaine was a French fabulist and one of the most widely read French poets of the 17th century. He is known above all for his Fables, which provided a model for subsequent fabulists across Europe and numerous alternative versions in France, as well as in French regional languages. These Jean de La Fontaine quotes will motivate you.
Best Jean de La Fontaine Quotes
- “A person often meets his destiny on the road he took to avoid it.” ~ Jean de La Fontaine
- “Patience and time do more than strength or passion.” ~ Jean de La Fontaine
- “Half of today is better than all of tomorrow.” ~ Jean de La Fontaine
- “All the brains in the world are powerless against the sort of stupidity that is in fashion.” ~ Jean de La Fontaine
-
“Man is so made that when anything fires his soul, impossibilities vanish.” ~ Jean de La Fontaine
- “Nothing is more dangerous than a friend without discretion; even a prudent enemy is preferable.” ~ Jean de La Fontaine
- “From a distance it is something; and nearby it is nothing.” ~ Jean de La Fontaine
- “If you deal with a fox, think of his tricks.” ~ Jean de La Fontaine
- “Beware, so long as you live, of judging men by their outward appearance.” ~ Jean de La Fontaine
-
“Rare as is true love, true friendship is rarer.” ~ Jean de La Fontaine
- “To live lightheartedly but not recklessly; to be gay without being boisterous; to be courageous without being bold; to show trust and cheerful resignation without fatalism – this is the art of living.” ~ Jean de La Fontaine
- “Often we find our own destiny on the same roads that we have been avoiding.” ~ Jean de La Fontaine
- “Friendship is the shadow of the evening, which increases with the setting sun of life.” ~ Jean de La Fontaine
-
“Nothing weighs on us so heavily as a secret.” ~ Jean de La Fontaine
- “Dressed in the lion’s skin, the ass spread terror far and wide.” ~ Jean de La Fontaine
- “Death never takes the wise man by surprise, he is always ready to go.” ~ Jean de La Fontaine
- “We risk all in being too greedy.” ~ Jean de La Fontaine
- “It is twice the pleasure to deceive the deceiver.” ~ Jean de La Fontaine
- “How wealthy the gods would be if we remembered the promises we made when we were in danger.” ~ Jean de La Fontaine
-
“The worst time is always the present.” ~ Jean de La Fontaine
- “Religious contention is the devil’s harvest.” ~ Jean de La Fontaine
- “Gentleness succeeds better than violence.” ~ Jean de La Fontaine
- “We like to see others, but don’t like others to see through us.” ~ Jean de La Fontaine
- “No path of flowers leads to glory.” ~ Jean de La Fontaine
- “Our destiny is frequently met in the very paths we take to avoid it.” ~ Jean de La Fontaine
- “We become innocent when we are unfortunate.” ~ Jean de La Fontaine
-
“Man is ice to truth and fire to falsehood.” ~ Jean de La Fontaine
- “It is no use running; to set out betimes is the main point.” ~ Jean de La Fontaine
- “In everything one must consider the end.” ~ Jean de La Fontaine
- “He knows the universe and does not know himself.” ~ Jean de La Fontaine
- “Patience and perseverance at lengthAccomplish more than anger or brute strength.” ~ Jean de La Fontaine
- “Everyone believes very easily whatever they fear or desire.” ~ Jean de La Fontaine
- “I bend, but I do not break.” ~ Jean de La Fontaine
-
“What God does, He does well.” ~ Jean de La Fontaine
- “The more wary you are of danger, the more likely you are to meet it.” ~ Jean de La Fontaine
- “It is said, that the thing you possess is worth more than two you may have in the future. The one is sure and the other is not.” ~ Jean de La Fontaine
- “Every flatterer lives at the expense of him who listens to him.” ~ Jean de La Fontaine quotes
- “Socrates, when informed of some derogating speeches one had used concerning him behind his back, made only this facetious reply, “Let him beat me too when I am absent.” ~ Jean de La Fontaine
-
“The finest victory is to conquer one’s own heart.” ~ Jean de La Fontaine
- “Le mensonge et les vers de tout temps sont amis. Lies and literature have always been friends.” ~ Jean de La Fontaine
- “Sadness flies away on the wings of time.” ~ Jean de La Fontaine
- “He is very foolish who aims at satisfying all the world and his father.” ~ Jean de La Fontaine
- “Never sell the bear’s skin before one has killed the beast.” ~ Jean de La Fontaine
- “A hungry stomach cannot hear.” ~ Jean de La Fontaine
- “Anyone entrusted with power will abuse it if not also animated with the love of truth and virtue, no matter whether he be a prince, or one of the people.” ~ Jean de La Fontaine
-
“By the work one knows the workman.” ~ Jean de La Fontaine
- “Nothing is so oppressive as a secret: women find it difficult to keep one long; and I know a goodly number of men who are women in this regard.” ~ Jean de La Fontaine
- “Love cries victory when the tears of a woman become the sole defence of her virtue.” ~ Jean de La Fontaine
- “Example is a dangerous lure: where the wasp got through the gnat sticks fast.” ~ Jean de La Fontaine
- “People must help one another; it is nature’s law.” ~ Jean de La Fontaine
-
“In every trouble the little ones duck more easily.” ~ Jean de La Fontaine
- “Let us not overstrain our talents, lest we do nothing gracefully.” ~ Jean de La Fontaine
- “Diversity, that is my motto.” ~ Jean de La Fontaine
- “By time and toil we sever What strength and rage could never.” ~ Jean de La Fontaine
- “Neither wealth or greatness render us happy.” ~ Jean de La Fontaine
- “Silent people are dangerous; others are not so.
[Fr., Les gens sans bruit sont dangereux;
Il n’en est pas ainsi des autres.]” ~ Jean de La Fontaine - “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
-
“Every editor of newspapers pays tribute to the devil.” ~ Jean de La Fontaine
- “If every man works at that for which nature fitted him, the cows will be well-tended.” ~ Jean de La Fontaine
- “Let fools the studious despise,
There’s nothing lost by being wise.” ~ Jean de La Fontaine - “One often has need of one inferior to himself.” ~ Jean de La Fontaine
-
“Sensible people find nothing useless.” ~ Jean de La Fontaine
- “There is no road of flowers leading to glory.” ~ Jean de La Fontaine
- “Our condition never satisfies us; the present is always the worst. Though Jupiter should grant his request to each, we should continue to importune him.” ~ Jean de La Fontaine
- “The argument of the strongest is always the best.” ~ Jean de La Fontaine