Nicolas Boileau
Nicolas Boileau
Nicolas Boileau-Despréaux, often known simply as Boileau, was a French poet and critic...
exalted light rhyme treating whether
Whether one is treating a light or an exalted subject, let the sense and the rhyme always agree.
mason talent
Be a mason instead, if you have a talent for that.
evil fear leads
Often the fear of one evil leads us into a worse.
cease great shall winning
Great king, cease winning victories, or I shall give up writing.
dinner forget fresh heart worth
Take fresh heart and never forget that a warmed-up dinner is worth nothing at all.
everywhere exposes good itself light offers says whether
Everywhere my thought offers and exposes itself to the light of day, and my verse, whether good or bad, always says something.
happiness light graves
Happy who in his verse can gently steer From grave to light, from pleasant to severe.
world can-not please
He [Moliere] pleases all the world, but can- not please himself.
ignorance science admire
Ignorance is always ready to admire itself. Procure yourself critical friends.
truth air urgent
Truth has not such an urgent air.
lovely truth-is fairs
Nothing but truth is lovely, nothing fair.
burden
The dreadful burden of having nothing to do.
nature spring break-through
Nature always springs to the surface and manages to show what she is. It is vain to stop or try to drive her back. She breaks through every obstacle, pushes forward, and at last makes for herself a way.
simple littles simple-living
Who lives content with little possesses everything.