Molière
Jean-Baptiste Poquelin, also known by his stage name, Molière, was a French playwright and actor who is considered one of the greatest masters of comedy in Western literature. Among Molière's best-known dramas are Le Misanthrope, (The Misanthrope), L'Ecole des femmes (The School for Wives), Tartuffe ou l'Imposteur, (Tartuffe or the Hypocrite), L'Avare ou l'École du mensonge (The Miser), Le Malade imaginaire (The Imaginary Invalid), and Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme (The Bourgeois Gentleman).
From a prosperous family and having studied at the Jesuit Clermont College (now Lycée Louis-le-Grand), Molière was well suited to begin a life in the theatre. Thirteen years as an itinerant actor helped to polish his comic abilities while he also began writing, combining Commedia dell'Arte elements with the more refined French comedy.
Through the patronage of a few aristocrats including the brother of Louis XIV, Molière procured a command performance before the King at the Louvre. Performing a classic play by Pierre Corneille and a farce of his own, Le Docteur amoureux (The Doctor in Love), Molière was granted the use of Salle du Petit-Bourbon at the Louvre, a spacious room appointed for theatrical performances. Later, Molière was granted the use of the Palais-Royal. In both locations he found success among the Parisians with plays such as Les Précieuses ridicules (The Affected Ladies), L'École des maris (The School for Husbands) and L'École des femmes (The School for Wives). This royal favour brought a royal pension to his troupe and the title "Troupe du Roi" (The King's Troupe). Molière continued as the official author of court entertainments.
Though he received the adulation of the court and Parisians, Molière's satires attracted criticisms from moralists and the Church. Tartuffe ou l'Imposteur (Tartuffe or the Hypocrite) and its attack on religious hypocrisy roundly received condemnations from the Church while Don Juan was banned from performance. Molière's hard work in so many theatrical capacities began to take its toll on his health and, by 1667, he was forced to take a break from the stage. In 1673, during a production of his final play, Le Malade imaginaire (The Imaginary Invalid), Molière, who suffered from pulmonary tuberculosis, was seized by a coughing fit and a haemorrhage while playing the hypochondriac Argan. He finished the performance but collapsed again soon after, and died a few hours later. In his time in Paris, Molière had completely reformed French comedy.
“La curiosité naît de la jalousie”
“Quand on sait entendre, on parle toujours bien.”
“Malicious men may die, but malice never.”
“Ah! What a fine thing it is to know something!”
“I prefer an interesting vice to a virtue that bores.”
“Je voudrais bien savoir pourquoi les gens qui se scandalisent si fort de la comédie de Molière ne disent mot de celle de Scaramouche.""La raison de cela, c'est que la comédie de Scaramouche joue le ciel et la religion, dont ces messieurs-là ne se soucient point; mais celle de Molière les joue eux-mêmes; c'est ce qu'ils ne peuvent souffrir.”
“Mais, supposé, comme il est vrai, que les exercices de la piété souffrent des intervelles et que les hommes aient besoin de divertissement, je soutiens qu'on ne leur en peut trouver un qui soit plus innocent que la comédie.”
“Birth means nothing where there is no virtue.”
“What a terrible thing to be a great lord, yet a wicked man.”
“« Par ma foi ! il y a plus de quarante ans que je dis de la prose sans que j'en susse rien, et je vous suis le plus obligé du monde de m'avoir appris cela. »”
“Femeile frumoase au datoria de a ne scoate din minţi.”
“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.”
“Songez que les principes de votre vie sont en vous-même, et que le courroux de Monsieur Purgon est aussi peu capable de vous faire mourir que ses remèdes de vous faire vivre.”
“La nature, d'elle-même, quand nous la laissons faire, se tire doucement du désordre où elle est tombée.”
“La musique est accoutumée à ne point faire ce qu'on veut.”
“Beauty without intelligence is like a hook without bait.”
“My hate is general, I detest all men;Some because they are wicked and do evil,Others because they tolerate the wicked,Refusing them the active vigorous scornWhich vice should stimulate in virtuous minds.”
“Hé quoi ? vous ne ferez nulle distinctionEntre l'hypocrisie et la dévotion? Vous les voulez traiter d'un semblable langage,Et rendre même honneur au masque qu'au visage,Égaler l'artifice à la sincérité,Confondre l'apparence avec la vérité,Estimer le fantôme autant que la personne,Et la fausse monnaie à l'égal de la bonne ?Les hommes la plupart sont étrangement faits !Dans la juste nature on ne les voit jamais ;La raison a pour eux des bornes trop petites ;En chaque caractère ils passent ses limites ;Et la plus noble chose, ils la gâtent souventPour la vouloir outrer et pousser trop avant.”
“Kogu inimkond on nii vastik rämps ja park,et mind solvata võiks, kui näiksin neile tark.”
“Without knowledge, life is no more than the shadow of death”
“To marry a fool is to be no fool.”
“C'est un parleur étrange, et qui trouve toujoursL'art de ne vous rien dire avec de grands discours.”
“Sur quelque préférence une estime se fonde,Et c'est n'estimer rien qu'estimer tout le monde.”
“Contre la médisance il n'est point de rempart.”
“Presque tous les hommes meurent de leurs remèdes, et non pas de leurs maladies.”
“Each day my reason tells me so; But reason doesn't rule in love, you know.”
“I might, by chance, write something just as shoddy;But then I wouldn't show it to everybody.”
“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.”
“unbroken happiness is a bore: it should have ups and downs.”
“I have the defect of being more sincere than persons wish.”
“Tous les hommes sont semblables par les paroles,ce n'est que les actions qui les découvrent différents”
“Its as if you think you'd never findReason and the Sacred intertwined”
“One must eat to live and not live to eat.”
“The greater the obstacle, the more glory in overcoming it.”
“Trees that are slow to grow bear the best fruit.”
“Trissottani: ma lo scemo ignorante è uno scemo più puro. Clitandro: lo scemo intellettuale è uno scemo due volte.”
“No, you shall be, my faith! Tartuffified.”
“Le plus grand faible des hommes, c'est l'amour qu'ils ont de la vie. ”
“The world, dear Agnes, is a strange affair.”
“You are my peace, my solace, my salvation.”
“Man, I can assure you, is a nasty creature.”
“Hypocrisy is a fashionable vice, and all fashionable vices pass for virtue.”
“Il faut qu'il ait tué bien des gens pour s'être fait si riche.”
“Life is a tragedy to those who feel and a comedy to those who think.”
“It infuriates me to be wrong when I know I'm right.”
“Die Dinge haben nur den Wert, den man ihnen verleiht.”
“A learned fool is more a fool than an ignorant fool.”
“Kebahagiaan yang tidak ada habis-habisnya akan membosankan.Itulah sebabnya kita mengalami pasang surut dalam hidup ini.”
“Que jamais par la force on n'entra dans un coeur,Et que toute âme est libre à nommer son vainqueur.”
“It is not only what we do, but also what we do not do, for which we are accountable.”