Jean de La Fontaine
Jean de La Fontaine
Jean de La Fontainewas the most famous 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, and in French regional languages...
NationalityFrench
ProfessionPoet
Date of Birth8 July 1621
CountryFrance
argument strongest
The argument of the strongest is always the best.
hungry stomach
A hungry stomach cannot hear.
friendship birthday memories
Friendship is the shadow of the evening, which increases with the setting sun of life.
flattery expenses flatterer
Every flatterer lives at the expense of him who listens to him.
satisfaction unfortunate fastidious
The fastidious are unfortunate: nothing can satisfy them. [Lat., Les delicats sont malheureux, Rien ne saurait les satisfaire.]
skins lions lioness
Dressed in the lion's skin, the ass spread terror far and wide.
death wise men
Death never takes the wise man by surprise, he is always ready to go.
names fool commoners
Everyone calls himself a friend, but only a fool relies on it; nothing is commoner than the name, nothing rarer than the thing.
too-much want auteurs
Un auteur ga" te tout quand il veut trop bien faire. An author spoils everything when he wants too much to do good.
danger dangerous dangerous-things
The more wary you are of danger, the more likely you are to meet it.
peacock feathers
Le geai pare des plumes du paon. A bluejay in peacock feathers.
misery wretched ought
We ought never to scoff at the wretched, for who can be sure of continued happiness?
ends
In everything one must consider the end.
today half tomorrow
Half of today is better than all of tomorrow.