Moliere Quotes

It is not only for what we do that we are held responsible, but also for what we do not do.

A wise man is superior to any insults which can be put upon him, and the best reply to unseemly behavior is patience and moderation.

The greater the obstacle, the more glory in overcoming it.

All the ills of mankind, all the tragic misfortunes that fill the history books, all the political blunders, all the failures of the great leaders have arisen merely from a lack of skill at dancing.

The trees that are slow to grow bear the best fruit.

Love is a great master. It teaches us to be what we never were.

Writing is like prostitution. First you do it for love, and then for a few close friends, and then for money.

The most effective way of attacking vice is to expose it to public ridicule. People can put up with rebukes but they cannot bear being laughed at: they are prepared to be wicked but they dislike appearing ridiculous.

I assure you, an educated fool is more foolish than an uneducated one.

People spend most of their lives worrying about things that never happen.

I want people to be sincere; a man of honor shouldn't speak a single word that doesn't come straight from his heart.

I hate all men, the ones because they are mean and vicious, and the others for being complaisant with the vicious ones.

Great is the fortune of he who possesses a good bottle, a good book, and a good friend.

To find yourself jilted is a blow to your pride. Do your best to forget it and if you don't succeed, at least pretend to.

Folk whose own behavior is most ridiculous are always to the fore in slandering others.

A husband is a plaster that cures all the ills of girlhood.

Without dance, a man can do nothing.

People are all alike in their promises. It is only in their deeds that they differ.

Every good act is charity. A man's true wealth hereafter is the good that he does in this world to his fellows.

People can be induced to swallow anything, provided it is sufficiently seasoned with praise.

And with his arms crossed he looks pityingly down from his spiritual height on everything that anyone says.

Betrayed and wronged in everything, I’ll flee this bitter world where vice is king, And seek some spot unpeopled and apart Where I’ll be free to have an honest heart. - Molière, The Misanthrope

If everyone were clothed with integrity, if every heart were just, frank, kindly, the other virtues would be well-nigh useless.

Doubts are more cruel than the worst of truths. It is not only for what we do that we are held responsible, but also for what we do not do. A lover whose passion is extreme loves even the faults of the beloved

We are easily duped by those we love.

The genuine Amphitryon is the Amphitryon with whom we dine.

If Claret is the king of natural wines, Burgundy is the queen.

There is nothing so necessary for men as dancing.

There is no fate more distressing for an artist than to have to show himself off before fools, to see his work exposed to the criticism of the vulgar and ignorant.

The world, dear Agnes, is a strange affair.

unbroken happiness is a bore: it should have ups and downs.

No reason makes it right To shun accepted ways from stubborn spite; And we may better join the foolish crowd Than cling to wisdom, lonely though unbowed.

How easily a fathers tenderness is recalled, and how quickly a son's offenses vanish at the slightest word of repentance!

Perfect reason avoids all extremes.

They [zealots] would have everybody be as blind as themselves: to them, to be clear-sighted is libertinism.

To inspire love is a woman's greatest ambition, believe me. It's the one thing woman care about and there's no woman so proud that she does not rejoice at heart in her conquests.

Beauty without intelligence is like a hook without bait.

A learned fool is more a fool than an ignorant fool.

Unreasonable haste is the direct road to error.

One is easily fooled by that which one loves.

It may cost me twenty thousand francs; but for twenty thousand francs, I will have the right to rail against the iniquity of humanity, and to devote to it my eternal hatred.

I live on good soup, not on fine words.

Man, I can assure you, is a nasty creature.

Some of the most famous books are the least worth reading. Their fame was due to their having done something that needed to be doing in their day. The work is done and the virtue of the book has expired.

There is no reward so delightful, no pleasure so exquisite, as having one's work known and acclaimed by those whose applause confers honor.

I prefer an interesting vice to a virtue that bores.

Of all the noises known to man, opera is the most expensive.

Most people die from the remedy rather than from the illness.

Sharing with Jupiter is never a dishonor.

The art of flatterers is to take advantage of the foibles of the great, to foster their errors, and never to give advice which may annoy.