All Nicolas Boileau-Despreaux Quotes
- Gold gives an appearance of beauty even to ugliness: but with poverty everything becomes frightful. Appearance
- Honor is like an island, rugged and without a beach; once we have left it, we can never return. Beach
- With poverty everything becomes frightful. Becomes
- 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… Always Springs
- A fool always finds a greater fool to admire him. Admire
- However big the fool, there is always a bigger fool to admire him. Admire
- Who lives content with little possesses everything. Content
- Nothing but truth is lovely, nothing fair. Fair
- The dreadful burden of having nothing to do. Burden
- No one who cannot limit himself has ever been able to write. Able
- Every age has its pleasures, its style of wit, and its own ways. Age
- Greatest fools are the most often satisfied. Fool
- The world is full of fools; and he who would not wish to see one, must not only shut himself up alone, but must also… Alone
- If your descent is from heroic sires, Show in your life a remnant of their fires. Descent
- In spite of every sage whom Greece can show, Unerring wisdom never dwelt below; Folly in all of every age we see, The only difference… Age
- The wisest man is he who does not fancy that he is so at all. All
- Whatever we well understand we express clearly, and words flow with ease. Clearly
- Happy who in his verse can gently steer From grave to light, from pleasant to severe. From
- The wisest man is generally he who thinks himself the least so. Humility
- But satire, ever moral, ever new, Delights the reader and instructs him, too. She, if good sense refine her sterling page, Oft shakes some rooted… Age