Nicolas Boileau-Despreaux
Nicolas Boileau-Despreaux
Nicolas Boileau-Despréaux, often known simply as Boileau, was a French poet and critic...
NationalityFrench
ProfessionPoet
Date of Birth1 November 1636
CountryFrance
honest praise persons
Praising an honest person who doesn't deserve it, always wounds them.
friendship praise advise
Attach yourself to those who advise you rather than praise you.
ignorance science admire
Ignorance is always ready to admire itself. Procure yourself critical friends.
world can-not please
He [Moliere] pleases all the world, but can- not please himself.
happiness light graves
Happy who in his verse can gently steer From grave to light, from pleasant to severe.
time moments draws
Time flies and draws us with it. The moment in which I am speaking is already far from me.
one-day theatre lasts
Let a single complete action, in one place and one day, keep the theatre packed to the last.
beauty beautiful truth
Nothing is really beautiful but truth, and truth alone is lovely.