Top 200 Molière Quotes (2024 Update)
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151. “The world, dear Agnes, is a strange affair.”

— Molière

152. “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.”

— Molière

153. “Frankly, it’s good enough to lock up in a drawer.”

— Molière

154. “A lover tries to stand in well with the pet dog of the house.”

— Molière

155. “Perfect good sense shuns all extremity, content to couple wisdom with sobriety.”

— Molière

156. “Gold is the key, whatever else we try; and that sweet metal aids the conqueror in every case, in love as well as war.”

— Molière

157. “I find medicine is the best of all trades because whether you do any good or not you still. Get your money.”

— Molière

158. “How easily a fathers tenderness is recalled, and how quickly a son’s offenses vanish at the slightest word of repentance!”

— Molière

159. “Grammar, which knows how to lord it over kings, and with high hands makes them obey its laws.”

— Molière

160. “Sometimes I feel something akin to rage At the corrupted morals of this age!”

— Molière

161. “The genuine Amphitryon is the Amphitryon with whom we dine.”

— Molière

162. “When we are understood, we always speak well, and then all your fine diction serves no purpose.”

— Molière

163. “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.”

— Molière

164. “Of all human foibles love of living is the most powerful.”

— Molière

165. “He who follows his lessons tastes a profound peace, and looks upon everybody as a bunch of manure.”

— Molière

166. “True, Heaven prohibits certain pleasures; but one can generally negotiate a compromise.”

— Molière

167. “Malicious tongues spread their poison abroad and nothing here below is proof against them.”

— Molière

168. “All which is not prose is verse; and all which is not verse is prose.”

— Molière

169. “I maintain, in truth, That with a smile we should instruct our youth, Be very gentle when we have to blame, And not put them in fear of virtue’s name.”

— Molière

170. “Oh, I may be devout, but I am human all the same.”

— Molière

171. “Once you have the cap and gown all you need do is open your mouth. Whatever nonsense you talk becomes wisdom and all the rubbish good sense.”

— Molière

172. “Assassination’s the fastest way.”

— Molière

173. “In order to prove a friend to one’s guests, frugality must reign in one’s meals; and, according to an ancient saying, one must eat to live, not live to eat.”

— Molière

174. “Age brings about everything; but it is not the time, Madam, as we know, to be a prude at twenty.”

— Molière

175. “You think you can marry for your own pleasure, friend?”

— Molière

176. “Stay awhile that we may make an end the sooner.”

— Molière

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

— Molière

178. “We are all mortals, and each is for himself.”

— Molière

179. “My heavens! I’ve been talking prose for the last forty years without knowing it.”

— Molière

180. “Deference and intimacy live far apart.”

— Molière

181. “A laudation in Greek is of marvellous efficacy on the title-page of a book.”

— Molière

182. “Even Rome cannot grant us a dispensation from death.”

— Molière

183. “Frenchmen have an unlimited capacity for gallantry and indulge it on every occasion.”

— Molière

184. “That must be fine, for I don’t understand a word.”

— Molière

185. “All right-minded people adore it; and anyone who is able to live without it is unworthy to draw breathe.”

— Molière

186. “And knowing money is a root of evil, in Christian charity, he’d take away whatever things may hinder your salvation.”

— Molière

187. “Perfect reason avoids all extremes.”

— Molière

188. “She is laughing up her sleeve at you.”

— Molière

189. “How strange it is to see with how much passion People see things only in their own fashion!”

— Molière

190. “I have a heart to love all the world; and like Alexander I wish there were yet other worlds, so I could carry even further my amorous conquests.”

— Molière

191. “Human weakness is to desire to know what one does not want to know.”

— Molière

192. “Better to be married than dead!”

— Molière

193. “Ah! how annoying that the law doesn’t allow a woman to change husbands just as one does shirts.”

— Molière

194. “One can be well-bred and write bad poetry.”

— Molière

195. “Wives rarely fuss about their beauty To guarantee their mate’s affection.”

— Molière

196. “Oh, how fine it is to know a thing or two.”

— Molière

197. “People of quality know everything without ever having learned anything.”

— Molière

198. “When you model yourself on people, you should try to resemble their good sides.”

— Molière

199. “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.”

— Molière

200. “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.”

— Molière