Top 100 Jean de La Fontaine Quotes (2025 Update)
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51. “People must help one another; it is nature’s law.”

— Jean de La Fontaine

52. “Men of all ages have the same inclinations, over which reason exercises no control. Thus, wherever men are found, there are follies, ay, and the same follies.”

— Jean de La Fontaine

53. “Imitators are a slavish herd and fools in my opinion.”

— Jean de La Fontaine

54. “Is not moderation an old refrain Ringing in our ears? from which we all refrain.”

— Jean de La Fontaine

55. “The ruins of a house may be repaired; why cannot those of the face?”

— Jean de La Fontaine

56. “How wealthy the gods would be if we remembered the promises we made when we were in danger.”

— Jean de La Fontaine

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

— Jean de La Fontaine

58. “To hell with pleasure that’s haunted by fear.”

— Jean de La Fontaine

59. “One should oblige everyone to the extent of one’s ability. One often needs someone smaller than oneself.”

— Jean de La Fontaine

60. “It is no use running; to set out betimes is the main point.”

— Jean de La Fontaine

61. “Every one turns his dreams into realities as far as he can; man is cold as ice to the truth, hot as fire to falsehood.”

— Jean de La Fontaine

62. “Let ignorance talk as it will, learning has its value.”

— Jean de La Fontaine

63. “Better to suffer than to die.”

— Jean de La Fontaine

64. “Nothing is so oppressive as a secret: women find it difficult to keep one long; and I know a goodly number of men who are women in this regard.”

— Jean de La Fontaine

65. “Foxes are all tail, and women all tongue.”

— Jean de La Fontaine

66. “Le mensonge et les vers de tout temps sont amis. Lies and literature have always been friends.”

— Jean de La Fontaine

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

— Jean de La Fontaine

68. “In short, luck’s always to blame.”

— Jean de La Fontaine

69. “No favor can win gratitude from a cat.”

— Jean de La Fontaine

70. “The good, we do it; the evil, that is fortune; man is always right, and destiny always wrong.”

— Jean de La Fontaine

71. “Every flatterer lives at the expense of him who listens to him.”

— Jean de La Fontaine

72. “The argument of the strongest is always the best.”

— Jean de La Fontaine

73. “Garde-toi, tant que tu vivras, De juger des gens sur la mine. Beware as long as you live, Of judging others according to appearance alone.”

— Jean de La Fontaine

74. “If every man works at that for which nature fitted him, the cows will be well tended.”

— Jean de La Fontaine

75. “A mountain in labour shouted so loud that everyone, summoned by the noise, ran up expecting that she would be delivered of a city bigger than Paris; she brought forth a mouse.”

— Jean de La Fontaine

76. “Le geai pare des plumes du paon. A bluejay in peacock feathers.”

— Jean de La Fontaine

77. “Rather suffer than die is man’s motto.”

— Jean de La Fontaine

78. “The finest victory is to conquer one’s own heart.”

— Jean de La Fontaine

79. “To win a race, the swiftness of a dart Availeth not without a timely start.”

— Jean de La Fontaine

80. “The sign brings customers.”

— Jean de La Fontaine

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

— Jean de La Fontaine

82. “There’s nothing sweeter than a real friend: Not only is he prompt to lend – An angler delicate, he fishes The very deepest of your wishes, And spares your modesty the task His friendly aid to ask. A dream, a shadow, wakes his fear, When pointing at the object dear.”

— Jean de La Fontaine

83. “We heed no instincts but our own.”

— Jean de La Fontaine

84. “We love good looks rather than what is practical, Though good looks may prove destructive.”

— Jean de La Fontaine

85. “Better to rely on one powerful king than on many little princes.”

— Jean de La Fontaine

86. “It is impossible to please all the world and one’s father.”

— Jean de La Fontaine

87. “In this world we must help one another.”

— Jean de La Fontaine

88. “We believe no evil till the evil’s done.”

— Jean de La Fontaine

89. “Our condition never satisfies us; the present is always the worst. Though Jupiter should grant his request to each, we should continue to importune him.”

— Jean de La Fontaine

90. “O love, when thou gettest dominion over us, we may bid good-by to prudence.”

— Jean de La Fontaine

91. “One returns to the place one came from.”

— Jean de La Fontaine

92. “You’ve tried to reform what will not learn. Shut doors on traits that you wish were dead; They will open a window and return.”

— Jean de La Fontaine

93. “The best laid plot can injure its maker, and often a man’s perfidy will rebound on himself.”

— Jean de La Fontaine

94. “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 butchers trade.”

— Jean de La Fontaine

95. “In every trouble the little ones duck more easily.”

— Jean de La Fontaine

96. “Neither wealth or greatness render us happy.”

— Jean de La Fontaine

97. “What a wonderful thing it is to have a good friend. He identifies your innermost desires, and spares you the embarrassment of disclosing them to him yourself.”

— Jean de La Fontaine

98. “Habit, to which all of us are more or less slaves.”

— Jean de La Fontaine

99. “We ought never to scoff at the wretched, for who can be sure of continued happiness?”

— Jean de La Fontaine

100. “The strongest passion is fear.”

— Jean de La Fontaine