Quotes by Jean de la Fontaine

“From a distance it is something and nearby it is nothing.”

“The worst time is always the present.”

“Half of today is better than all of tomorrow.”

“He knows the universe and does not know himself.”

“Everyone has his faults which he continually repeats neither fear nor shame can cure them.”

“Rien ne sert de courir il faut partir à point”

“Even if misfortune is only good for bringing a fool to his senses it would still be just to deem it good for something.”

“I bend but I do not break.”

“Man is so made that whenever anything fires his soul impossibilities vanish.”

“The more wary you are of danger the more likely you are to meet it.”

“One should stick to the sort of thing for which one was made I tried to be an herbalist whereas I should keep to the butcher's trade.”

“All roads lead to Rome but our antagonists think we should choose different paths.”

“From a distance it is something and nearby it is nothing.”

“Everyone has his faults which he continually repeats neither fear nor shame can cure them.”

“People must help one another; it is nature's law.”

“Everyone calls himself a friend, but only a fool relies on it; nothing is commoner than the name, nothing rarer than the thing.”

“Everyone believes very easily whatever they fear or desire.”

“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.”

“We then saw what St. Jerome said of those who serve God and those who serve the world: Each to the other we seem insane: Invicem insanire videmur. There is a never-ending duel between the two.”

“L'histoire, encore que mensongère,Contient des vérités qui servent de leçons.Tout parle en mon ouvrage, et même les poissons.Ce qu'ils disent s'adresse à tout tant que nous sommes;Je me sers d'anim...”