=L'absence est à l'amour ce qu'est au feu le
vent; / Il éteint le petit, il allume le grand=--Absence
is to love what wind is to a fire; it
quenches the small flame and quickens the large.
_Bussy._
=L'adresse surmonte la force=--Skill surpasses 45
strength. _Fr. Pr._
=L'adversité est sans doute un grand maître;
mais ce maître se fait payer cher ses leçons,
et souvent le profit qu'on en retire ne vaut
pas le prix qu'elles ont coûté=--Adversity is
without doubt a great teacher, but this teacher
makes us pay dear for his instructions, and often
the profit we derive from them is not worth the
price we are required to pay. _Rousseau._
=L'adversité fait l'homme, et le bonheur les
monstres=--Men are formed in adversity, monsters
in prosperity. _Fr._
=L'affaire s'achemine=--The affair is going
forward. _Fr._
=L'âge d'or était l'âge où l'or ne regnait pas=--The
golden age was the age in which gold did
not reign. _Lézay de Marnézia._
=L'âge d'or, qu'une aveugle tradition a placé
jusqu'ici dans le passé, est devant nous=--The
golden age, which a blind tradition has hitherto
placed behind us, is before us. _St. Simon._
=L'aigle d'une maison est un sot dans une
autre=--The eagle of one house is a fool in
another. _Gresset._
=L'aimable siècle où l'homme dit à l'homme, /
Soyons frères, ou je t'assomme=--That loving
time when one man said to another, "Let us be
brothers, or I will brain you." _Le Brun, of
French Revolution times._
=L'Allégorie habite un palais diaphane=--Allegory 5
dwells in a transparent palace. _Lemierre._
=L'Allegro=--The merry Muse.
=L'âme n'a pas de secret que la conduite ne
révèle=--The heart has no secret which our
conduct does not reveal. _Fr. Pr._
=L'âme qui n'a point de but établi, elle se perd;
c'est n'être en aucun bien, qu'être par tout=--The
soul which has no fixed purpose in life is
lost; to be everywhere is to be nowhere. _Montaigne._
=L'ami du genre humain n'est point du tout
mon fait=--He who is the friend of every one
has no interest for me. _Molière._
=L'amitié est l'amour sans ailes=--Friendship is 10
love without wings, _i.e._, is steadfast. _Fr. Pr._
=L'amour apprend aux ânes à danser=--Love
teaches even asses to dance. _Fr. Pr._
=L'amour de la justice n'est, en la plus part des
hommes, que la crainte de souffrir l'injustice=--The
love of justice is, in the majority of mankind,
nothing else than the fear of suffering
injustice. _La Roche._
=L'amour est le roman du cœur, / Et le plaisir
en est l'histoire=--Love is the heart's romance,
pleasure is its history. _M. de Bièvre._
=L'amour est un vrai recommenceur=--Love is a
true renewer. _Bussy-Rabutin._
=L'amour est une passion qui vient souvent= 15
=sans savoir comment, et qui s'en va aussi de
même=--Love is a passion which comes often we
know not how, and which goes also in like
manner. _Fr._
=L'amour et la fumée ne peuvent se cacher=--Love
and smoke cannot be concealed. _Fr. Pr._
=L'amour-propre est le plus grand de tous les
flatteurs=--Self-love is the greatest of all flatterers.
_La Roche._
=L'amour-propre est un ballon gonflé de vent,
dont il sort des tempêtes quand on lui fait
une piqûre=--Self-love is a balloon blown up with
wind, from which tempests of passion issue as
soon as it is pricked into. _Voltaire._
=L'amour-propre offensé ne pardonne jamais=--Self-love
offended never forgives. _Vigée._
=L'amour soumet la terre, assujettit les cieux, /= 20
=Les rois sont à ses pieds, il gouverne les
dieux=--Love rules the earth, subjects the
heavens; kings are at his feet; he controls the
gods. _Corn._
=L'anglais a les préjugés de l'orgueil, et les
français ceux de la vanité=--The English are
predisposed to pride, the French to vanity.
_Rousseau._
=L'anime triste di coloro / Che visser senza infamia,
e senza lodo=--The sad souls of those who
lived without blame and without praise. _Dante._
=L'animal delle lunghe orecchie, dopo aver
beveto dà calci al secchio=--The ass (_lit._
long-eared animal), after having drunk, gives
a kick to the bucket. _It. Pr._
=L'apparente facilité d'apprendre est cause de
la perte des enfants=--The apparent facility of
learning is a reason why children are lost.
_Rousseau._
=L'appétit vient en mangeant=--Appetite comes 25
with eating, _i.e._, the more one has, the more
one would have. _Rabelais._
=L'arbre de la liberté ne croît qu'arrosé par le
sang des tyrans=--The tree of liberty grows
only when watered by the blood of tyrants.
_Barere._
=L'arco si rompe se sta troppo teso=--The bow
when overstrained will break. _It. Pr._
=L'argent est un bon passe-partout=--Money is
a good pass-key or passport. _Fr. Pr._
=L'argent est un bon serviteur et un méchant
maître=--Money is a good servant, but a bad
master. _Fr. Pr._
=L'art de vaincre est celui de mépriser la mort=--The 30
art of conquering is that of despising
death. _Mme. de Sivry._
=L'asino che ha fame mangia d'ogni strame=--The
ass that is hungry will eat any kind of
litter. _It. Pr._
=L'aspettar del malo è mal peggiore / Forse
che non parebbe il mal presente=--The anticipation
of evil is perhaps worse than the evil
is felt to be when it comes. _Tasso._
=L'atrocité des lois en empêche l'exécution=--The
severity of the laws prevents the execution
of them. _Montesquieu._
=L'avare est comme ces amans qu'un excès
d'amour empêche de jouir=--The miser is like
a lover the excess of whose passion bars the enjoyment
of it. _Fr._
=L'avenir=--The future. _Fr._ 35
=L'élévation est au merité, ce que la parure est
aux belles personnes=--Exalted station is to
merit what the ornament of dress is to handsome
persons. _Fr._
=L'éloquence a fleuri le plus à Rome lorsque les
affaires ont été en plus mauvais état=--Eloquence
flourished most in Rome when its affairs
were in the worst condition. _Montaigne._
="L'empire, c'est la paix"=--"The empire, that is
peace." _Napoleon III._
=L'empire des lettres=--The republic of letters. _Fr._
=L'ennui du beau, amène le goût du singulier=--When 40
we tire of the beautiful it induces a
taste for singularity. _Fr._
=L'ennui naquit un jour de l'uniformité=--Ennui
was born one day of uniformity. _Lamotte-Houdard._
=L'enseigne fait la chalandise=--A good sign attracts
custom. _La Fontaine._
=L'esclave n'a qu'un maître; l'ambitieux en a
autant qu'il y a de gens utiles à sa fortune=--A
slave has but one master; the ambitious man
has as many as there are people who help him
to his fortune. _La Bruyère._
=L'espérance est le songe d'un homme éveillé=--Hope
is the dream of a man awake. _Fr. Pr._
=L'esprit a son ordre, qui est par principes et= 45
=démonstrations, le cœur en a un autre=--The
mind has its way of proceeding by principles
and demonstrations; the heart has a different
method. _Pascal._
=L'esprit de la conversation consiste bien moins
à en montrer beaucoup qu'à en faire trouver
aux autres=--Wit in conversation consists much
less in displaying much of it than in stimulating
it in others. _La Bruyère._
=L'esprit de la plupart des femmes sert plus à
fortifier leur folie que leur raison=--The wit
of most women goes more to strengthen their
folly than their reason. _La Roche._
=L'esprit de modération doit être celui du
législateur=--A legislator should be animated
by the spirit of moderation. _Montesquieu._
=L'esprit est le dieu des instants, le génie est
le dieu des âges=--Wit is the god of the moments,
but genius is the god of the ages. _Fr._
=L'esprit est toujours la dupe du cœur=--The 5
mind is always the dupe of the heart. _La Roche._
=L'esprit est une plante dont on ne sauroit
arrêter la végétation sans la faire périr=--Wit
is a plant of which you cannot arrest the
development without destroying it. _Fr. Pr._
=L'esprit qu'on veut avoir, gâte celui qu'on a=--The
wit which we strive to possess spoils that
which we naturally possess. _Gresset._
=L'esprit ressemble aux coquettes; ceux qui
courent après lui sont ceux qu'il favorise le
moins=--Wit is like a coquette; those who run
after it are the least favoured. _Fr._
="L'état, c'est moi"=--"The state, I am the
state." _Louis XIV._
=L'état doit avoir aussi des entrailles=--The state 10
as well as the individual ought to have a feeling
heart. _Cousin._
="L'Europe m'ennuie"=--"I am tired of Europe."
_Napoleon, when he took the field against
Russia._
=L'exactitude est la politesse des rois=--Punctuality
is the politeness of kings. _Max. of Louis
XVIII._
=L'excellence et la grandeur d'une âme brille
et éclate d'avantage dans le mépris de
richesse=--The excellence and greatness of a
soul are most conspicuously and strikingly displayed
in the contempt of riches. _Fr._
=L'expérience de beaucoup d'opinions donne à
l'esprit beaucoup de flexibilité, et l'affermit
dans celles qu'il croit les meilleures=--Acquaintance
with a wide range of opinion imparts to
the mind great flexibility, and confirms it in
those which it believes to be the best. _Fr._
=L'imitazione del male supera sempre l'essempio;= 15
=come per il contrario l'imitazione
del bene è sempre inferiore=--He who imitates
what is bad always goes beyond his model, while
he, on the contrary, who imitates what is good
always comes short of it. _Guicciardini._
=L'impromptu est justement la pierre de touche
de l'esprit=--Impromptu is precisely the touchstone
of wit. _Molière._
=L'habit ne fait point le moine=--It is not the
garb he wears that makes the monk. _Pascal._
=L'heure est à Dieu, l'espérance à tous=--The
hour appertains to God, hope to all. _Fr._
=L'histoire n'est que le tableau des crimes et
des malheurs=--History is but a picture of
crimes and misfortunes. _Voltaire._
=L'homme absurde est celui qui ne change= 20
=jamais=--The absurd man is he who never
changes. _Barthélemy._
=L'homme est de glace aux vérités, / Il est de
feu pour les mensonges=--Man is as ice to what
is true, and as fire to falsehood. _La Fontaine._
=L'homme est sourd à ses maux tant qu'à ses
intérêts quand il s'agit de ses plaisirs=--Men
are regardless of their misfortunes as well as
their interests when either are in competition
with their pleasures. _Fr._
=L'homme est toujours l'enfant, et l'enfant
toujours l'homme=--The man is always the
child, and the child is always the man. _Fr._
=L'homme est un apprenti, la douleur est son
maître; / Et nul ne se connaît, tant qu'il n'a
pas souffert=--Man is an apprentice, pain is his
master; and none knows himself so long as he
has not suffered. _A. de Musset._
=L'homme n'est jamais moins misérable que= 25
=quand il paraît dépourvu de tout=--Man is
never less miserable than when he appears
destitute of everything. _Fr._
=L'homme n'est ni ange ni bête, et le malheur
veut que qui veut faire l'ange fait la bête=--Man
is neither an angel nor a brute, but,
as the evil genius will have it, he who aspires
to be an angel degenerates into the brute.
_Pascal._
=L'homme n'est qu'un roseau, le plus faible de
la nature, mais c'est un roseau pensant=--Man
is only a reed, the weakest in nature, but he is a
reed that thinks. _Pascal._
=L'homme nécessaire=--The right man. _Fr._
=L'homme propose et Dieu dispose=--Man proposes
and God disposes. _Fr. Pr._
=L'homme vraiment libre ne veut que ce qu'il= 30
=peut, et fait ce qu'il lui plait=--The man who
is truly free wills only what he can, and does
only what pleases him. _Rousseau._
=L'honneur acquis est caution de celui qu'on
doit acquérir=--Honour acquired is an earnest of
that which is to follow. _La Roche._
=L'hypocrisie est un hommage que le vice rend
à la vertu=--Hypocrisy is the homage which
vice renders to virtue. _La Roche._
=L'imagination est la folle du logis=--Imagination
is the madcap of the brain (_lit._ the merryandrew
of the dwelling). _Malebranche._
=L'imagination galope, le jugement ne va que
le pas=--The imagination gallops, the judgment
merely walks. _Fr._
=L'impossibilité où nous sommes de prouver= 35
=que Dieu n'est pas, nous découvre son existence=--The
impossibility which we feel of proving
that there is not a God reveals to us His
existence. _Fr._
=L'incrédulité est une croyance, une religion
très exigeante, qui a ses dogmes, sa liturgie,
ses pratiques, ses rites ... son intolerance,
ses superstitions=--Incredulity is a belief, a
religion highly peremptory, which has its dogmas,
its liturgy, its practices, its rites, ... its
intolerance, and its superstitions. _Alphonse
Karr._
=L'incroyable=--The incredible; past belief.
=L'industrie des hommes s'épuise à briguer les
charges, il ne leur en reste plus pour en
remplir les devoirs=--The energies of men are
so exhausted in canvassing for places, that they
have none left to perform the duties which belong
to them. _Fr._
=L'influence féminine devient l'auxiliaire indispensable
de tout pouvoir spirituel, comme le
moyen âge l'a tant montré=--The influence of
woman proves to be the indispensable auxiliary
of all spiritual power, as the Middle Ages have so
abundantly testified. (?)
=L'ingegno, che spopola e che spalea / E l'asino
d'un pubblico insolente, / Che mai lo pasce
e sempre lo cavalca=--The genius which devastates
and destroys is the ass of the insolent public,
who always mount and ride it, but never feed it.
_Giuseppe Giusti._
=L'injustice à la fin produit l'indépendance=--Independence
in the end is the fruit of injustice.
_Voltaire._
=L'institut des Jésuites est une épée, dont la
poignée est à Rome et la pointe partout=--The
order of the Jesuits is a sword, the handle
of which is at Rome and the point everywhere.
_Dupin._
=L'Italia farà da se=--Italy will do it by herself.
_M. of the Italian Revolution of_ 1849.
=L'occasion fait le larron=--Opportunity makes 5
the thief. _Fr. Pr._
=L'on espère de vieillir et l'on craint la vieillesse;
c'est à dire l'on aime la vie et l'on fuit la mort=--We
hope to grow old, yet we dread old age;
that is to say, we love life and shrink from death.
_La Bruyère._
=L'on ne peut aller loin dans l'amitié, si l'on
n'est pas disposé à se pardonner, les uns
aux autres, les petits défauts=--Friendship
cannot go far if we are not disposed mutually to
forgive each other's venial faults. _La Bruyère._
=L'on ne vaut dans ce monde que ce que l'on
veut valoir=--We are valued in this world at the
rate at which we desire to be valued. _La Bruyère._
=L'on se repent rarement de parler peu, très
souvent de trop parler: maxime usée et
triviale que tout le monde sait, et que tout
le monde ne pratique pas=--We rarely repent
of having spoken too little, very often of having
spoken too much: a maxim this which is old and
trivial, and which every one knows, but which
every one does not practise. _La Bruyère._
=L'or est une chimère=--Gold is but a chimæra, or 10
fabulous monster. _S. Meyerbeer._
=L'orateur cherche par son discours un archevêché,
l'apôtre fait des conversions; il
mérite de trouver ce que l'autre cherche=--The
preacher aims by his eloquence at an archbishopric,
the apostle makes converts; he deserves
to get what the other aims at. _La
Bruyère._
=L'oreille est le chemin du cœur=--The ear is the
road to the heart. _Voltaire._
=L'orgueil ne veut pas devoir, et l'amour-propre
ne veut pas payer=--Pride wishes not to owe,
and self-love does not wish to pay. _La Roche._
=L'ozio é il padre di tutti i visi=--Idleness is the
parent of all the vices. _It. Pr._
=L'ultima che si perde è la speranza=--Hope is 15
the last thing we lose. _It. Pr._
=L'une des marques de la médiocrité d'esprit
est de toujours conter=--One of the marks of
a mediocrity of intellect is to be given to story-telling.
_La Bruyère._
=L'union fait la force=--Union is strength. _M._
=L'usage fréquent des finesses est toujours
l'effet d'une grande incapacité, et la marque
d'un petit esprit=--The frequent recourse to
finesse is always the effect of incapacity and the
mark of a small mind. _Fr._
=La beauté de l'esprit donne de l'admiration,
celle de l'âme donne de l'estime, et celle du
corps de l'amour=--The charms of wit excite
admiration, those of the soul esteem, and those
of the body love. _Fr._
=La beauté sans vertu est une fleur sans parfum=--Beauty 20
without virtue is a flower without
fragrance. _Fr. Pr._
=La biblioteca è l'nutrimento dell'anima=--Books
are nourishment to the mind. _It. Pr._
=La bonne fortune et la mauvaise sont nécessaire
à l'homme pour le rendre habile=--Good
fortune and bad are alike necessary to man in
order to develop his capability. _Fr._
=La bride sur le cou=--With loose reins; at full
speed. _Fr._
=La buena vida padre y madre olvida=--Prosperity
forgets father and mother. _Sp. Pr._
=La carrière des lettres est plus épineuse que= 25
=celle de la fortune. Si vous avez le malheur
d'être médiocre, voilà des remords pour la
vie; si vous réussissiez, voilà des ennemis;
vous marchez sur le bord d'un abîme entre le
mépris et la haine=--A literary career is a more
thorny path than that which leads to fortune. If
you have the misfortune not to rise above mediocrity,
you feel mortified for life; and if you are
successful, a host of enemies spring up against
you. Thus you find yourself on the brink of an
abyss between contempt and hatred. _Voltaire._
=La carrière ouverte aux talents=--The course is
open to men of talent--the tools to the man that
can handle them (of which truth Napoleon has
been described as the great preacher). _Fr._
=La Charte sera désormais une vérité=--The
Charter shall be henceforward a reality. _Louis
Philippe._
=La clémence des princes n'est souvent qu'une
politique pour gagner l'affection des peuples=--The
clemency of princes is often only a political
manœuvre to gain the affections of their
subjects. _La Roche._
=La colpa seguira la parte offensa / In grido,
como suol=--Blame, as is wont, wreaks its rage
on those who suffer wrong. _Dante._
=La condition par excellence de la vie, de la= 30
=santé et de la force chez l'être organisé, est
l'action. C'est par l'action qu'il developpe
ses facultés, qu'il en augmente l'énergie, et
qu'il atteint la plénitude de sa destinée=--The
chief condition on which depends the life, health,
and vigour of an organised being is action. It is
by action that it develops its faculties, that it
increases its energy, and that it attains to the
fulfilment of its destiny. _Proudhon._
=La confiance fournit plus à la conversation
que l'esprit=--Confidence contributes more to
conversation than wit. _La Roche._
=La conscience est la voix de l'âme, les passions
sont la voix du corps=--Conscience is the voice
of the soul, the passions are the voice of the body.
_Rousseau._
=La constance des sages n'est que l'art de
renfermer leur agitation dans leur cœur=--The
constancy of the wise is nothing but the art
of shutting up whatever might disturb them
within themselves. _La Roche._
=La corruption de chaque gouvernement commence
presque toujours par celle des principes=--The
decay of every government almost
always dates from the decay of the principles on
which it is founded. _Montesquieu._
=La cour est comme un édifice bâti de marbre;= 35
=je veux dire qu'elle est composée d'hommes
fort durs mais fort polis=--The court is like
an edifice built of marble; I mean, it is composed
of men very hard but very polished. _La
Bruyère._
=La cour ne rend pas content, elle empêche
qu'on ne le soit ailleurs=--The court does not
make a man happy, and it prevents him from
being so elsewhere. _La Bruyère._
=La crainte suit le crime, et c'est son châtiment=--Fear
haunts crime, and this is its punishment.
_Voltaire._
=La crédulité est plutôt une erreur qu'une faute,
et les plus de gens de bien en sont susceptibles=--Credulity
is rather an error than a fault, and
the worthiest people are most subject to it. _Fr._
=La criaillerie ordinaire fait qu'on s'y accoutume
et chacun la méprise=--By continually scolding
your inferiors, they at length become accustomed
to it, and despise your reproof. _Fr._
=La critique est aisée, et l'art est difficile=--Criticism 5
is easy, and art is difficult. _Destouches._
=La décence est le teint naturel de la vertu, et
le fard du vice=--Decency is the natural complexion
of virtue and the deceptive guise of vice.
_Fr. Pr._
=La défense est un charme; on dit qu'elle
assaisonne les plaisirs, et surtout ceux que
l'amour nous donne=--Prohibition acts as a
charm; it is said to give a zest to pleasures,
especially to those which love imparts. _La
Fontaine._
=La diffidenza è la madre della sicurtà=--Diffidence
(caution) is the mother of safety. _It.
Pr._
=La dissimulation la plus innocente n'est jamais
sans inconvénient; criminel ou non, l'artifice
est toujours dangereux, et presque inévitablement
nuisible=--Dissimulation, even the
most innocent, is always embarrassing; whether
with evil intent or not, artifice is always dangerous,
and almost inevitably disgraceful. _La
Bruyère._
=La docte antiquité est toujours vénérable, / Je= 10
=ne la trouve pas cependant adorable=--To
the learning of antiquity I always pay due
veneration, but I do not therefore adore it as
sacred. _Boileau._
=La donna è mobile=--Woman is inconstant. _It._
=La durée de nos passions ne dépend pas plus de
nous que la durée de notre vie=--The duration
of our passions no more depends upon ourselves
than the duration of our lives. _La Roche._
=La faiblesse de l'ennemi fait notre propre force=--The
weakness of the enemy forms part of our
own strength. _Pr._
=La faim chasse le loup hors du bois=--Hunger
drives the wolf out of the wood. _Fr. Pr._
=La fama degli eroi spetta un quarto alla loro= 15
=audacia, due quarti alla sorte e l'altro
quarto ai loro delitti=--Great men owe a fourth
part of their fame to their daring, two-fourths to
fortune, and the remaining fourth to their crimes.
_U. Foscolo._
=La farina del Diavolo, va tutta in crusca=--The
devil's meal turns all to chaff. _Sp._
=La farine du diable s'en va moitié en son=--The
devil's meal goes half to bran. _Fr. Pr._
=La faveur met l'homme au-dessus de ses
égaux; et sa chute au-dessous=--Favour
exalts a man above his equals, and his fall
or disgrace beneath them. _La Bruyère._
=La femme est l'élément le plus moral de l'humanité=--Woman
is the element in humanity that
has the most moral power. (?).
=La feuille tombe à terre, ainsi tombe la beauté=--The 20
leaf falls to earth, so also does beauty.
=La finesse n'est ni une trop bonne ni une très
mauvaise qualité: elle flotte entre le vice
et la vertu; il n'y a point de rencontre où
elle ne puisse, et peut-être où elle ne doive
être suppléée par la prudence=--Finesse is
neither a very good nor yet a very bad quality.
It hovers between vice and virtue, and there are
few occasions in which it cannot be, and perhaps
ought not to be superseded by common prudence.
_La Bruyère._
=La fleur des pois=--The tip-top of fashion. _Fr._
=La force, proprement dite, c'est-ce qui régit
les actes, sans régler les volontés=--Force,
strictly speaking, is that which rules the actions
without regulating the will. (?)
=La fortune du pot=--Pot-luck. _Fr._
=La fortune passe partout=--The vicissitudes of 25
fortune are felt everywhere. _M._
=La fortune vend ce qu'on croit qu'elle donne=--Fortune
sells what we think she gives. _Fr. Pr._
=La France est une monarchie absolue, tempérée
par des chansons=--France is an absolute
monarchy tempered by epigrams. _Quoted by
Chamfort._
=La France marche à la tête de la civilisation=--France
leads the van in the civilisation of the
world. _Guizot._
=La garde meurt et ne se rend pas=--The guard
dies but does not surrender. _Ascribed to Gen.
Cambronne at Waterloo._
=La générosité suit la belle naissance; / La= 30
=pitié l'accompagne et la reconnaissance=--Generosity
follows in the train of high birth;
pity and gratitude are attendants. _Corneille._
=La gola e'l sonno e l'oziose piume / Hanno del
mondo ogni vertù sbandita=--Lust, sleep, and
idleness have banished every virtue out of the
world. _Petrarch._
=La goutte de rosée à l'herbe suspendue, /
y réfléchit un ciel aussi vaste, aussi pur, /
Que l'immense océan dans ses plaines d'azur=--The
drop of dew which hangs suspended from the
grass-blade reflects a heaven as vast and pure as the
ocean does in its wide azure plains. _Lamartine._
=La grammaire, qui sait régenter jusqu'aux
rois=--Grammar, that knows how to lord it even
over kings. _Molière._
=La grande nation=--The great nation. _Napoleon
when General Bonaparte, of France._
=La grande sagesse de l'homme consiste à= 35
=connaître ses folies=--It is in the knowledge of
his follies that man shows his superior wisdom.
_Fr. Pr._
=La guerre ou l'amour=--War or love. _M._
=La jeunesse devrait être une caisse d'épargne=--Youth
ought to be a savings' bank. _Mme.
Swetchine._
=La jeunesse vit d'espérance, la vieillesse de
souvenir=--Youth lives on hope, old age on
memory. _Fr. Pr._
=La justice de nos jugements et de nos actions
n'est jamais que la rencontre heureuse de
notre intérêt avec l'intérêt public=--The justice
of our judgment and actions is never anything
but the happy coincidence of our private
with the public interest. _Helvetius._
=La justice et la vérité sont deux pointes si= 40
=subtiles, que nos instrumens sont trop
émoussés pour y toucher exactement=--Justice
and truth are two points so fine that our
instruments are too blunt to touch them exactly.
_Pascal._
=La langue des femmes est leur épée, et elles
ne la laissent pas rouiller=--The tongue of a
woman is her sword, which she seldom suffers to
rust. _Fr. Pr._
=La légalité nous tue=--Legality will be the death
of us. _M. Viennet._
=La libéralité consiste moins à donner beaucoup,
qu'à donner à-propos=--Liberality consists
less in giving a great deal than in giving
seasonably. _La Bruyère._
=La libertad es la juventud eterna de las naciones=--Liberty
is the eternal youth of the nations.
_Gen. Foy._
=La liberté, convive aimable, / Met les deux= 5
=coudes sur la table=--Liberty, an amiable
guest, puts both her elbows upon the table, _i.e._,
is free and at her ease. _Voltaire._
=La liberté est ancienne; c'est le despotisme
qui est nouveau=--Liberty is of ancient date; it
is despotism that is new. _Fr._
=La lingua batte dove la dente duole=--The
tongue strikes where the tooth aches. _It. Pr._
=La loi ne saurait égaliser les hommes malgré
la nature=--The law cannot equalise men in
spite of nature. _Vauvenargues._
=La maladie sans maladie.=--The disease without
disease, _i.e._, hypochondria. _Fr._
=La manière de former les idées est ce qui donne= 10
=caractère à l'esprit humain=--It is the way in
which our ideas are formed that a character is
imparted to our minds. _Rousseau._
=La marque d'un mérite extraordinaire est de
voir que ceux qui l'envient le plus, sont contraints
de le louer=--The proof of superior merit
is to see how those who envy it most are constrained
to praise it. _Fr._
=La menzogna c'insegue anche sotterra=--Falsehood
follows us even into the grave. _Giuseppe
Nicolini._
=La mode est un tyran dont rien nous délivre, /
A son bizarre goût il faut s'accommoder=--Fashion
is a tyrant from which there is no deliverance;
all must conform to its whimsical
taste. _Fr._
=La modération des faibles est médiocrité=--The
moderation of the weak is mediocrity. _Vauvenargues._
=La moitié du monde prend plaisir à médire, et= 15
=l'autre moitié à croire les médisances=--One
half of the world takes delight in slander, and
the other half in believing it. _Fr. Pr._
=La moltiplicità delle leggi e dei medici in un
paese sono egualmente segni di malore di
quello=--A multiplicity of laws and a multiplicity
of physicians in any country are proofs alike of
its bad state. _It. Pr._
=La montagne est passée, nous irons mieux=--We
are over the hill; we shall go better now.
_Frederick the Great's last words._
=La moquerie est souvent indigence d'esprit=--Derision
is often poverty of wit. _La Bruyère._
=La morale trop austère se fait moins aimer
qu'elle ne se fait craindre; et qui veut qu'on
profite de ses leçons donne envie de les entendre=--Morality
when too austere makes itself
less loved than feared; and he who wishes others
to profit from its lessons should awaken a desire
to listen to them. _Fr._
=La mort est plus aisée à supporter sans y= 20
=penser, que la pensée de la mort sans péril=--Death
is more easy to bear when it comes without
thought of it, than the thought of it without the
risk of it. _Pascal._
=La mort ne surprend point le sage; / Il est
toujours prêt à partir, / S'étant su lui-même
avertir / Du temps où l'on se doit résoudre
à ce passage=--Death is no surprise to the wise
man; he is always ready to depart, having learnt
to anticipate the time when he must make up his
mind to take this last journey. _La Fontaine._
=La musique seule est d'une noble inutilité, et
c'est pour cela qu'elle nous émeut si profondément;
plus elle est loin de tout but, plus
elle se rapproche de cette source intime de
nos pensées que l'application à un objet
quelconque reserve dans son cours=--Music
alone is nobly non-utilitarian, and that is why
it moves us so profoundly; the further it is removed
from serving any purpose, the nearer it
approaches that inner spring of our thoughts
which the application to any object whatever
hampers in its course. _Mme. de Staël._
=La naissance n'est rien où la vertu n'est pas=--Birth
is nothing where virtue is not. _Molière._
=La nation en deuil=--The nation in mourning.
_Montalembert on Poland._
=La nation ne fait pas corps en France; elle= 25
=réside toute entière dans la personne du roy=--In
France the nation is not a corporate body;
it resides entirely in the person of the king.
_Louis XIV._
=La nature a donné deux garants de la chastité
des femmes, la pudeur et les remords; la
confession les prive de l'un, et l'absolution
de l'autre=--Nature has given two safeguards
for female chastity, modesty and remorse, but
confession deprives them of the one and absolution
of the other. _Fr._
=La nature aime les croisements=--Nature is
partial to cross-breedings. _Fourier._
=La nature est juste envers les hommes=--Nature
is just to men. _Montesquieu._
=La nature s'imite=--Nature imitates herself.
_Pascal._
=La nuit porte conseil=--The night brings good 30
counsel. _Fr. Pr._
=Là ou ailleurs=--There or elsewhere. _M._
=Là où la chèvre est attachée, il faut qu'elle
broute=--The goat must browse where it is
tethered. _Fr. Pr._
=La parfaite valeur est de faire sans témoins
ce qu'on serait capable de faire devant tout
le monde=--Sterling worth shows itself in doing
unseen what we would be capable of doing in the
eye of the world. _La Roche._
=La parole a été donnée à l'homme pour déguiser
sa pensée=--Speech has been given to
man to conceal his thought. _Voltaire._
=La passion déprave, mais elle élève aussi=--Passion 35
depraves, but it also elevates. _Lamartine._
=La passion fait souvent un fou du plus habile
homme, et rend souvent habiles les plus sots=--Love
often makes a fool of the cleverest man,
and often gives cleverness to the most foolish.
_La Roche._
=La patience est amère, mais le fruit en est
doux=--Patience is bitter, but it yields sweet
fruit. _Rousseau._
=La patience est l'art d'espérer=--Patience is the
art of hoping. _Vauvenargues._
=La patience est le remède le plus sûre contre
les calomnies: le temps, tôt ou tard, découvre
la vérité=--Patience is the surest antidote
against calumny; time, sooner or later,
will disclose the truth. _Fr._
=La patrie veut être servie, et non pas dominée=--Our
country requires us to serve her, and not
to lord it over her. _Fr._
=La pauvreté n'est pas un péché, / Mieux vaut
cependant la cacher=--Poverty is not a sin;
but it is better to hide it. _Fr. Pr._
=La perfection marche lentement, il lui faut la
main du temps=--Perfection is attained by slow
degrees; she requires the hand of time. _Voltaire._
=La peur est un grand inventeur=--Fear is a
great inventor. _Fr. Pr._
=La philosophie non seulement dissipe nos inquiétudes,= 5
=mais elle nous arme contre tous
les coups de la fortune=--Philosophy not only
dissipates our anxieties, but it arms us against
the buffets of fortune. _Fr._
=La philosophie qui nous promet de nous rendre
heureux, trompe=--Philosophy, so far as she
promises us happiness, deceives us. _Fr._
=La philosophie triomphe aisément des maux
passés, et des maux à venir; mais les maux
présents triomphent d'elle=--Philosophy triumphs
easily enough over misfortunes that are
past and to come, but present misfortunes triumph
over her. _La Roche._
=La plupart des hommes, pour arriver à leurs
fins, sont plus capables d'un grand effort
que d'une longue persévérance=--To attain
their ends most people are more capable of a
great effort than of continued perseverance.
_La Bruyère._
=La plupart des peuples, ainsi que des hommes,
ne sont dociles que dans leur jeunesse; ils
deviennent incorrigibles en vieillisant=--Most
nations, as well as men, are impressible only in
their youth; they become incorrigible as they
grow old. _Rousseau._
=La plupart des troubles de ce monde sont= 10
=grammairiens=--The majority of the troubles in
this world are the fault of the grammarians.
_Montaigne._
=La plus belle victoire est de vaincre son cœur=--The
noblest victory is to conquer one's own
heart. _La Fontaine._
=La plus courte folie est toujours la meilleure=--The
short folly is always the best. _Fr._
=La plus part des hommes emploient la première
partie de leur vie à rendre l'autre misérable=--The
generality of men expend the early part of
their lives in contributing to render the latter
part miserable. _La Bruyère._
=La plus part des hommes n'ont pas le courage
de corriger les autres, parcequ'ils n'ont pas
le courage de souffrir qu'on les corrige=--The
generality of mankind have not the courage to
correct others, because they have not themselves
the courage to bear correction.
=La poesia non muore=--Poetry does not die. 15
_B. Zendrini._
=La politesse est l'art de rendre à chacun sans
effort ce que lui est socialement dû=--Politeness
is the art of rendering spontaneously to
every one that which is his due as a member of
society. _Fr._
=La popularité c'est la gloire en gros sous=--Popularity
is glory in penny-pieces. _Victor
Hugo._
=La prière est un cri d'espérance=--Prayer is a
cry of hope. _A. de Musset._
=La propriété c'est le vol=--Property, that is
theft. _Proudhon._
=La propriété exclusive est un vol dans la= 20
=nature=--Exclusive ownership is a theft in
nature. _Fr._
=La prospérité fait peu d'amis=--Prosperity makes
few friends. _Vauvenargues._
=La raison du plus fort est toujours la meilleure=--The
argument of the strongest is always the
best, _i.e._, has most weight. _La Fontaine._
=La raison émancipée n'a pas nui à la cause de
Dieu; elle l'a servie=--The emancipation of
reason has not injured the cause of God; it has
promoted it. _V. Cousin._
=La raison seule peut faire des lois obligatoires
et durables=--Reason alone can render
laws binding and stable. _Mirabeau._
=La recherche de la paternité est interdite=--Investigation 25
of paternity is forbidden. _Code
Napoléon._
=La recherche du vrai, et la pratique du bien,
sont les deux objets les plus importants de
la philosophie=--The pursuit of what is true and
the practice of what is good are the two most
important objects of philosophy. _Voltaire._
=La reconnaissance est un fardeau, et tout
fardeau est fait pour être secoué=--Gratitude
is a burden, and every burden is made to be
shaken off. _Diderot._
=La réputation d'un homme est comme son
ombre, qui tantôt le suit, et tantôt le précède;
quelquefois elle est plus longue, et
quelquefois plus courte que lui=--A man's
reputation is like his shadow, which sometimes
follows, sometimes precedes him, and which is
occasionally longer, occasionally shorter than he
is. _Fr._
=La roche Tarpéienne est près du Capitole=--The
Tarpeian rock is near the Capitol, _i.e._, the
place of execution is near the scene of triumph.
_Jouy-Spontini._
=La ruse est le talent des égoïstes, et ne peut= 30
=tromper que les sots que
prennent la turbulence
pour l'esprit, la gravité pour la prudence,
effronterie pour le talent, l'orgueil
pour la dignité.=--Cunning is the accomplishment
of the selfish, and can only impose upon
silly people, who take bluster for sense, gravity
for prudence, effrontery for talent, and pride for
dignity. _Mirabeau._
=La sage conduite roule sur deux pivots, le
passé et l'avenir=--Prudent conduct turns on
two pivots, the past and the future, _i.e._, on a
faithful memory and forethought. _La Bruyère._
=La sauce vaut mieux que le poisson=--The
sauce is better than the fish. _Fr. Pr._
=La science du gouvernement n'est qu'une
science de combinaisons, d'applications et
d'exceptions, selon le temps, les lieux, les circonstances=--The
science of government is only
a science of combinations, applications, and exceptions,
according to time, place, and circumstance.
_Rousseau._
=La seule vertu distingue les hommes, dès qu'ils
sont morts=--By their virtues alone are men distinguished
after they are dead. _L'Abbé de Choisy._
=La silence est la vertu de ceux qui ne sont= 35
=pas sages=--Silence is the virtue of the foolish.
_Bouhours._
=La speranza è l'ultima ch'abbandona l'infelice=--Hope
is the last to abandon the unhappy. _It. Pr._
=La tempérance et le travail sont les deux vrais
médicins de l'homme=--Temperance and labour
are the two real physicians of man. _Rousseau._
=La terre est couverte de gens qui ne méritent
pas qu'on leur parle=--The earth swarms with
people who are not worth talking to. _Voltaire._
=La verdad es hija de Dios=--Truth is the daughter
of God. _Sp. Pr._
=La verdad es sempre verde=--Truth is always
green. _Sp. Pr._
=La vérité est cachée au fond du puits=--Truth
is hidden at the bottom of a well. _Fr. Pr._
=La vérité ne fait pas autant de bien dans le= 5
=monde que ses apparences y font de mal=--Truth
does not produce so much good in the
world as the hypocritical profession of it does
mischief. _Fr._
=La vertu a des appas qui nous portent au
véritable bonheur=--Virtue has attractions
which lead us to true happiness. _Fr._
=La vertu dans l'indigence est comme un voyageur,
que le vent et la pluie contraignent de
s'envelopper de son manteau=--Virtue in want
is like a traveller who is compelled by the wind
and rain to wrap himself up in his cloak. _Fr.
Pr._
=La virtù è simile ai profumi, che rendono più
grato odore quando triturati=--Virtue is like
certain perfumes, which yield a more agreeable
odour from being rubbed. _It._
=La vertu est la seule noblesse=--Virtue is the
only true nobility. _M._
=La vertu est partout la même: c'est qu'elle= 10
=vient de Dieu, et le reste est des hommes=--Virtue
is everywhere the same; the reason is it
proceeds from God, and the rest is from men.
_Voltaire._
=La vertu fut toujours en minorité sur la terre=--Virtue
has ever been in the minority on earth.
_Robespierre._
=La vertu n'iroit pas si loin, si la vanité ne
lui tenait compagnie=--Virtue would not go so
far if vanity did not bear her company. _La
Roche._
=La vicinanza de' grandi sempre è pericolosa
ai picoli; sono grandi come il fuoco, che
brucia eziandio quei che vi gettano dell'
incenso se troppo vi si approsimino=--The
neighbourhood of the great is always dangerous
to the little. The great are to them as a
fire which scorches those who approach it too
nearly. _It._
=La vida es corta y la esperanza larga, / El
bien huye de mi y el mal se alarga=--Life is
short, yet hope endures; good flies off, but evil
ever lurks about. _Luis de Góngora._
=La vie des héros a enrichi l'histoire, et l'histoire= 15
=a embelli les actions des héros=--The
lives of heroes have enriched history, and history
has embellished the exploits of heroes.
_La Bruyère._
=La vieillesse nous attache plus de rides en
l'esprit qu'en visage=--Old age contracts more
wrinkles on the mind than the countenance.
_Montaigne._
=La ville est le séjour de profanes humains, les
dieux habitent la campagne=--Towns are the
dwelling-places of profane mortals; the gods inhabit
rural retreats. _Rousseau._
=La violence est juste où la douceur est vaine=--Force
is legitimate where gentleness avails
not. _Corneille._
=La volontà è tutto=--The will is everything. _It.
Pr._
=La vraie science et le vrai étude de l'homme,= 20
=c'est l'homme=--The real science and the real
study for man, is man himself. _Charron._
=Labitur et labetur in omne volubilis ævum=--The
stream flows, and will go on flowing for
ever. _Hor._
=Labitur occulte, fallitque volubilis ætas=--Time
glides on stealthily, and eludes us as it steals
past. _Ovid._
=Labor ipse voluptas=--Labour itself is a pleasure.
_M._
=Labor omnia vincit / Improbus, et duris urgens
in rebus egestas=--Persevering labour overcomes
all difficulties, and want that urges us on in the
pressure of things. _Virg._
=Laborare est orare=--Work is worship (_lit._ to 25
labour is to pray). _Monkish Pr._
=Labore=--By labour. _M._
=Labore et honore=--By labour and honour. _M._
=Labore vinces=--By labour you will conquer.
_M._
=Laborum dulce lenimen=--The sweet soother of
my toils. _Hor. to his lyre._
=Labour bestowed on nothing is fruitless.= _Hitopadesa._ 30
=Labour endears rest, and both together are
absolutely necessary for the proper enjoyment
of human existence.= _Burns._
=Labour for labour's sake is against nature.=
_Locke._
=Labour has a bitter root but a sweet taste.=
_Dan. Pr._
=Labour is exercise continued to fatigue; exercise
is labour used only while it produces
pleasure.= _Johnson._
=Labour is life. From the inmost heart of the= 35
=worker rises his God-given force--the sacred
celestial life-essence breathed into him by
Almighty God.= _Carlyle._
=Labour is preferable to idleness, as brightness
to rust.= _Plato._
=Labour is the beginning, the middle, and the
end of art.= _Anon._
=Labour is the fabled magician's wand, the
philosopher's stone, and the cap of Fortunatus.=
_J. Johnson._
=Labour is the instituted means for the methodical
development of all our powers under
the direction and control of the will.= _J. G.
Holland._
=Labour is the Lethe of both past and present.= 40
_Jean Paul._
=Labour is the ornament of the citizen; the reward
of toil is when you confer blessings on
others; his high dignity confers honour on
the king; be ours the glory of our hands.=
_Schiller._
=Labour is the talisman that has raised man
from the condition of the savage.= _M'Culloch._
=Labour itself is but a sorrowful song, / The
protest of the weak against the strong.=
_Faber._
=Labour, if it were not necessary for the existence,
would be indispensable for the happiness,
of man.= _Johnson._
=Labour, like everything else that is good, is= 45
=its own reward.= _Whipple._
=Labour like this our want supplies, / And they
must stoop who mean to rise.= _Cowper._
=Labour of the hands, even when pursued to
the verge of drudgery, is perhaps never the
worst form of idleness (for the mind); it has
a constant and imperishable moral.= _Thoreau._
=Labour past is pleasant.= _Pr._
=Labour to keep alive in your breast that little
spark of celestial fire--conscience.= _Washington._
=Labour, wide as the earth, has its summit in
heaven.= _Carlyle._
=Labour with what zeal we will, / Something= 5
=still remains undone, / Something uncompleted
still / Waits the rising of the sun.=
_Longfellow._
=Lachen, Weinen, Lust und Schmerz / Sind
Geschwister-Kinder=--Laughing and weeping,
pleasure and pain, are cousins german. _Goethe._
=Lacrymæque decoræ, / Gratior et pulchro
veniens in corpore virtus=--His tears, that so
well become him, and a merit still more pleasing
that shows itself in his fair form. _Virg._
=Lactuca innatat acri / Post vinum stomacho=--Lettuce
after wine floats on the acrid stomach.
_Hor._
=Lad's love is lassie's delight, / And if lads
won't love, lassies will flite= (scold). _Craven._
=Lad's love's a busk of broom, hot awhile and= 10
=soon done.= _Pr._
=Lade nicht alles in ein Schiff=--Embark not your
all in one venture. _Ger. Pr._
=Ladies like variegated tulips show; / 'Tis to
their changes half their charms they owe.=
_Pope._
=Læso et invicto militi=--For our wounded but unconquered
soldiery. _Inscription on the Berlin
Invalidenhaus._
=Lætus in præsens animus, quod ultra est /
Oderit curare, et amara lento / Temperet
risu. Nihil est ab omni / Parte beatum=--The
mind that is cheerfully contented with the present
will shrink from caring about anything beyond,
and will temper the bitters of life with an easy
smile. There is nothing that is blessed in every
respect. _Hor._
=Lætus sorte tua vives sapienter=--You will live 15
wisely if you live contented with your lot. _Pr._
=Lætus sum laudari a laudato viro=--I am pleased
to be praised by a man who is so praised as you
are. _Cic._
=Laisser dire le monde, et toujours bien faire,
c'est une maxime, qui étant bien observée
assure notre repos, et établit enfin notre
réputation=--To let the world talk, and always
to act correctly, is a maxim which, if well observed,
will secure our repose, and in the end
establish our reputation. _Fr._
=Laissez dire les sots, le savoir a son prix=--Let
ignorance talk, learning has its value. _La Fontaine._
=Laissez faire, laissez passer!=--Let it be! Let
it pass! _Gournay, Quesnay._
=Laissez faire--the "let alone" principle, is, in= 20
=all things which man has to do with, the
principle of death. It is ruin to him, certain
and total, if he lets his land alone--if he lets
his fellow-men alone--if he lets his own soul
alone.= _Ruskin._
=Laissez-leur prendre un pied chez vous, / Ils
en auront bientôt pris quatre=--Let them take
one foot in your house, and they will soon have
taken four (give them an inch and they will take
an ell). _La Fontaine._
=Lamenting becomes fools, and action wise
folk.= _Sir P. Sidney._
=Lampoons and satires, that are written with
wit and spirit, are like poisoned darts, which
not only inflict a wound, but make it incurable.=
_Addison._
=Land is the right basis of an aristocracy. No
true aristocracy but must possess the land.=
_Carlyle._
=Land of lost gods and godlike men.= _Byron of_ 25
_Greece._
=Land should be given to those who can use it,
and tools to those who can use them.= _Ruskin._
=Land was never lost for want of an heir.= _Pr._
=Lands intersected by a narrow firth / Abhor
each other. Mountains interposed / Make
enemies of nations, which had else, / Like
kindred drops, been mingled into one.= _Cowper._
=Lands mortgaged may return, and more esteemed; /
But honesty once pawned is ne'er
redeemed.= _Middleton._
=Lang ill, soon weel.= _Sc. Pr._ 30
=Lang syne, in Eden's bonny yaird, / When
youthfu' lovers first were pair'd, / And all the
soul of love they shared, / The raptured hour, /
Sweet on the fragrant flowery swaird, / In
shady bower, / Then you, ye auld sneck-drawing=
(latch-lifting) =dog, / Ye cam' to
Paradise incog, / And play'd on man a curséd
brogue, / (Black be your fa') / And gied the
infant warld a shog= (shake), / ='Maist ruin'd a'.=
_Burns to the Deil._
=Langage des halles=--Language of the fishmarket.
_Fr._
=Lange ist nicht ewig=--Long is not for ever.
_Ger. Pr._
=Lange Ueberlegungen zeigen gewöhnlich,
dass man den Punkt nicht im Auge hat,
von dem die Rede ist; übereilte Handlungen,
dass man ihn gar nicht kennt=--Long pondering
on a matter usually indicates that one has
not properly got his eye on the point at issue;
and too hasty action that he does not know it
at all. _Goethe._
=Langes Leben heisst viele überleben=--To live 35
long is to outlive many. _Goethe._
=Langeweile ist ein böses Kraut / Aber auch
eine Würze, die viel verdaut=--Ennui is an ill
weed, but also a condiment which digests a
good deal. _Goethe._
=Langh festjen is nin brae sperjen=--A long fast
saves no bread. _Fris. Pr._
=Langsam nur im Menschengeiste / Reift das
Saatkorn der Erkenntniss, / Doch die Blumen
wachsen schnell=--The seed-grain of knowledge
ripens but slowly in the spirit of man, yet
the flowers grow fast. _Bodenstedt._
=Language at its infancy is all poetry.= _Emerson._
=Language is always wise.= _Emerson._ 40
=Language is fossil poetry.= _Trench._
=Language is not only the vehicle of thought,
it is a great and efficient instrument in
thinking.= _Sir H. Davy._
=Language is only clear when it is sympathetic.=
_Ruskin._
=Language is properly the servant of thought,
but not unfrequently it becomes its master.=
_W. B. Clulow._
=Language is the armoury of the human mind,
and at once contains the trophies of its past,
and the weapons of its future, conquests.=
_Coleridge._
=Language is the dress of thought.= _Johnson._
=Language is the memory of the human race.
It is a thread or nerve of life running through
all the ages, connecting them into one common,
prolonged, and advancing existence.=
_Wm. Smith._
=Language most shows a man; speak that I
may see thee.= _Ben Jonson._
=Languages are more properly to be called= 5
=vehicles of learning than learning itself.... True
knowledge consists in knowing things,
not words.= _Lady Montagu._
=Languages are the barometers of national
thought and character.= _Hare._
=Languages are the pedigree of nations.= _Johnson._
=Lapidary inscriptions should be historical
rather than lyrical.= _Carlyle._
=Lapis philosophorum=--The philosopher's stone.
=Lapis qui volvitur algam non generat=--A rolling 10
stone gathers no moss. _Pr._
=Lapsus memoriæ=--A slip of the memory.
=Lares et penates=--Household gods.
=Large bodies are far more likely to err than
individuals. The passions are inflamed by
sympathy; the fear of punishment and the
sense of shame are diminished by partition.
Every day we see men do for their faction
what they would die rather than do for
themselves.= _Macaulay._
=Large charity doth never soil, but only whiten,
soft white hands.= _Lowell._
=Large fortunes are all founded either on occupation= 15
=of land, or usury, or taxation of labour.=
_Ruskin._
=Large fortunes cannot be made by the
work of any one man's hands or head.=
_Ruskin._
=Large masses of mankind, in every society
of our Europe, are no longer capable of
living at all by the things which have been.=
_Carlyle._
=Largitio fundum non habet=--Giving has no
bottom. _Pr._
=Las manos blancas no ofenden=--White hands
cannot harm one. _Sp. Pr._
=Lasciate ogni speranza, voi ch'entrate=--Abandon 20
all hope, ye who enter here. _Dante._
=Lascivi soboles gregis=--The offspring of a wanton
herd. _Hor._
=Lass das Vergangne vergangen sein=--Let
what is past be past. _Goethe, Faust to Margaret
in the end._
=Lass deine Zunge nie das Amt des Schwertes
führen=--Never let thy tongue do the work of
the sword. (?)
=Lass dich nicht verblüffen=--Don't let yourself be
disconcerted. _Herder._
=Lass die Leute reden und die Hunde bellen=--Let 25
the people talk and the dogs bark. _Ger.
Pr._
=Lass die schwerste Pflicht dir die allerheiligste
Pflicht sein=--Let the most arduous
duty be the most sacred of all to thee. _Lavater._
=Lass die Winde stürmen auf des Lebens
Bahn, / Ob sie Wogen türmen gegen deinen
Kahn. / Schiffe ruhig weiter, wenn der
Mast auch bricht, / Gott ist dein Begleiter,
er vergisst dich nicht=--Let winds storm on
life's course, even though they swell over and
threaten thy skiff. Sail quietly on, even if the
mast gives way. God is thy convoy; He forgets
thee not. _Tiedge._
=Lass diesen Händedruck dir sagen / Was
unaussprechlich ist=--Let this pressure of the
hand reveal to thee what is unutterable. _Goethe,
Faust to Margarite._
=Lass ruhn, lass ruhn die Toten, / Du weckst
sie mit Klagen nicht auf=--Let them rest, let
thy dead ones rest, thou awakest them not with
thy wailing. _Chamisso._
=Lasses and glasses are brittle wares.= _Sc. Pr._ 30
=Lasst fahren hin das allzu Flüchtige! / Ihr
sucht bei ihm vergebens Rat! / In dem
Vergangnen lebt das Tüchtige / Verewigt
sich in schöner That=--Let the too transient
pass by; ye seek counsel in vain of it. Yet what
will avail you lives in the past, and lies immortalised
in what has been nobly done. _Goethe._
=Lasst uns hell denken, so werden wir feurig
lieben=--Let us think clearly, we shall love
ardently. _Schiller._
=Last come, worst served.=
=Last in bed, best heard.= _Pr._
=Last, not least.= _Jul. Cæs._, iii. 1. _Lear_, i. 1. 35
=Last scene of all, ... / Is second childishness
and mere oblivion; / Sans teeth, sans eyes,
sans taste, sans everything.= _As You Like
It_, ii. 7.
=Late children are early orphans.= _Sp. Pr._
=Late fruit keeps well.= _Ger. Pr._
=Lateat scintillula forsan=--A small spark may
perhaps lurk unseen. _M._
=Laterem laves=--You may as well wash a clay 40
brick white. _Ter._
=Latet anguis in herba=--There is a snake in the
grass. _Virg._
[Greek: lathe biôsas]--Remain hidden in life. _Epicurus._
=Latitat=--He lurks; a writ of summons (Law).
=Latius regnes, avidum domando / Spiritum,
quam si Libyam remotis / Gadibus jungas,
et uterque Pœnus / Serviat uni=--By subduing
an avaricious spirit you will rule a wider empire
than if you united Lybia to the far-off Gades,
and the Carthaginian on both shores should be
subject to you alone. _Hor._
=Latrante uno, latrat statim et alter canis=--When 45
one dog barks, another straightway begins
to bark too. _Pr._
=Latrantem curatne alta Diana canem?=--Does
the high-stepping Diana care for the dog that
bays her? _Pr._
=Laudant quod non intelligunt=--They praise
what they don't understand.
=Laudari a viro laudato maxima est laus=--To
be commended by a man of high repute is the
greatest possible praise.
=Laudat venales qui vult extrudere merces=--He
praises his wares who wishes to palm them
off upon others. _Hor._
=Laudato ingentia rura, / Exiguum colito=--Praise 50
a large estate, but cultivate a small one. _Virg._
=Laudator temporis acti=--The praiser of bygone
times. _Hor._
=Laudatur ab his, culpatur ab illis=--Some praise
him, others censure him. _Hor._
=Laudatus abunde, / Non fastiditus si tibi,
lector, ero=--Abundantly, reader, shall I be
praised if I do not cause thee disgust. _Ovid._
=Laudem virtutis necessitati damus=--We give
to necessity the praise of virtue. _Quinct._
=Laudibus arguitur vini vinosus=--He is convicted
of being a wine-bibber by his praises of wine. _Hor._
=Laudo Deum verum, plebem voco, congrego= 5
=clerum, / Defunctos ploro, pestem fugo, festa
decoro=--I praise the true God, I summon the
people, I call together the clergy, I bewail the
dead, I put to flight the plague, I celebrate festivals.
_Inscription on a church bell._
=Laudo manentem; si celeres quatit / Pennas,
resigno quæ dedit, et mea / Virtute me involvo
probamque / Pauperiem sine dote
quæro=--I praise her (Fortune) while she stays
with me; if she flaps her swift pinions, I resign
all she has given me, and wrap myself up in my
own virtue and pay my addresses to honest undowered
poverty. _Hor._
=Laugh and be fat.= _Ben Jonson._
=Laugh at all twaddle about fate. A man's fate
is what he makes it, nothing else.= _Anon._
=Laugh at leisure; ye may greet= (weep) =ere
nicht.= _Sc. Pr._
=Laugh not too much: the witty man laughs= 10
=least: / For wit is news only to ignorance. /
Less at thine own things laugh: lest in the
jest / Thy person share, and the conceit advance.=
_George Herbert._
=Laugh where we must, be candid where we
can, / But vindicate the ways of God to man.=
_Pope._
=Laughing cheerfulness throws the light of
day on all the paths of life; sorrow is
more confusing and distracting than so-called
giddiness.= _Jean Paul._
=Laughter almost ever cometh of things most
disproportioned to ourselves.= _Sir P. Sidney._
=Laughter and tears are meant to turn the
wheels of the same machinery of sensibility;
one is wind-power, and the other water-power,
that is all.= _Holmes._
=Laughter, holding both his sides.= _Milton._ 15
=Laughter is akin to weeping, and true humour
is as closely allied to pity as it is abhorrent
to derision.= _H. Giles._
=Laughter is one of the very privileges of
reason, being confined to the human species.=
_Leigh Hunt._
=Laughter is the cipher-key wherewith we
decipher the whole man.= _Carlyle._
=Laughter leaves us doubly serious shortly
after.= _Byron._
=Laughter makes good blood.= _It. Pr._ 20
=Laughter should dimple the cheek, not furrow
the brow.= _Feltham._
=Laus Deo=--Praise be to God. _M._
=Laus est facere quod decet, non quod licet=--It
is doing what we ought to do, and not merely
doing what we may do, that is the ground of
praise.
=Laus in proprio ore sordescit=--Self-praise is
offensive. _Pr._
=Laus magna natis obsequi parentibus=--Great 25
praise is the meed of children who respect the
wishes of their parents. _Phaedr._
=Lavish promises lessen credit.= _Hor._
=Lavishness is not generosity.= _Pr._
=Law and equity are two things which God hath
joined, but which man hath put asunder.=
_Colton._
=Law cannot persuade when it cannot punish.=
_Pr._
=Law has her seat in the bosom of God, her= 30
=voice in the harmony of the world.= _Hooker._
=Law is a bottomless pit; keep far from it.= _Pr._
=Law is a lottery.= _Pr._
=Law is not law if it violates the principles of
eternal justice.= _L. M. Child._
=Law is powerful, necessity more so.= _Goethe._
=Law it is which is without name, or colour, or= 35
=hands, or feet; which is smallest of the
least, and largest of the large; all, and
knowing all things; which hears without
ears, sees without eyes, moves without feet,
and seizes without hands.= _Emerson._
=Law licks up a'.= _Sc. Pr._
=Law-makers should not be law-breakers.= _Pr._
=Law, man's sole guardian ever since the day
when the old brazen age in sadness saw love
fly the world.= _Schiller._
=Law teaches us to know when we commit
injury and when we suffer it.= _Johnson._
=Law that shocks equity is reason's murderer.= 40
_A, Hill._
=Lawless are they that make their wills their
law.= _Sh._
=Laws act after crimes have been committed;
prevention goes before them both.= _Zimmermann._
=Laws and rights are transmitted like an inveterate
hereditary disease.= _Goethe._
=Laws are generally found to be nets of such
texture as the little creep through, the great
break through, and the middle size are alone
entangled in.= _Shenstone._
=Laws are intended to guard against what= 45
=men may do, not to trust what they will do.=
_Junius._
=Laws are like cobwebs, which may catch
small flies, but let wasps and hornets break
through.= _Swift._
=Laws are like spider webs, small flies are
ta'en, / While greater flies break in and out
again.= _Braithwaite._
=Laws are not made for particular cases, but
for men in general.= _Johnson._
=Laws are not made like nets--to catch, but
like sea-marks--to guide.= _Sir P. Sidney._
=Laws are not masters, but servants, and he= 50
=rules them who obeys them.= _Ward Beecher._
=Laws are not our life, only the house wherein
our life is led; nay, they are but the bare
walls of the house; all whose essential
furniture, the inventions and traditions and
daily habits that regulate and support our
existence, are the work not of Dracos and
Hampdens, but of Phœnician mariners, of
Italian masons, and Saxon metallurgists, of
philosophers, alchymists, prophets, and the
long-forgotten train of artists and artisans,
who from the first have been jointly teaching
us how to think and how to act, how to rule
over spiritual and physical nature.= _Carlyle._
=Laws are the silent assessors of God.= _W. R.
Alger._
=Laws are the sovereigns of sovereigns.= _Louis
XIV._
=Laws are the very bulwarks of liberty. They
define every man's rights, and stand between
and defend the individual liberties of all.=
_J. G. Holland._
=Laws are usually most beneficial in operation
on the people who would have most strongly
objected to their enactment.= _Ruskin._
=Law's costly; tak' a pint and 'gree.= _Sc. Pr._
=Laws exist in vain for those who have not the
courage and the means to defend them.=
_Macaulay._
=Laws grind the poor, and rich men rule the= 5
=law.= _Goldsmith._
=Laws, like cobwebs, catch flies, but let hornets
go free.= _Pr._
=Laws of Nature are God's thoughts thinking
themselves out in the orbs and the tides.=
_C. H. Parkhurst._
=Laws should be like death, which spares no
one.= _Montesquieu._
=Laws undertake to punish only overt acts.=
_Montesquieu._
=Laws were made for rogues.= _It. Pr._ 10
=Laws, written, if not on stone tables, yet on
the azure of infinitude, in the inner heart of
God's creation, certain as life, certain as
death, are there, and thou shalt not disobey
them.= _Carlyle._
=Lawyers and painters can soon make black
white.= _Pr._
=Lawyers and woodpeckers have long bills.= _Pr._
=Lawyers are always more ready to get a man
into troubles than out of them.= _Goldsmith._
=Lawyers are needful to keep us out of law.= 15
_Pr._
=Lawyers' houses are built of fools' heads.= _Fr.
Pr._
=Lawyers, of whose art the basis / Is raising
feuds and splitting cases.= _Butler._
=Lawyers' robes are lined with the obstinacy of
litigants.= _It. Pr._
=Lawyers will live as long as mine and thine
does.= _Ger. Pr._
=Lay by, like ants, a little store, / For summer= 20
=lasts not evermore.= _Pr._
=Lay by something for a rainy day.= _Pr._
=Lay not all the load on the lame horse.= _Pr._
=Lay not that flattering unction to your soul.=
_Ham._, iii. 4.
=Lay not thine heart open to every one, but
treat of thy affairs with the wise and such
as fear God.= _Thomas à Kempis._
=Lay the blame at the right door.= _Pr._ 25
=Lay the proud usurpers low! / Tyrants fall in
every foe! / Liberty's in every blow! / Forward!
let us die.= _Burns._
=Lay thy hand upon thy halfpenny twice before
thou partest with it.= _Pr._
=Lay up and lay out should go together.= _Pr._
=Lay up that you may lay out.= _Pr._
=Lazarus did not go to Abraham's bosom because= 30
=he was poor, or every sluggard would
go there easily.= _Spurgeon._
=Laziness begins with cobwebs and ends with
iron chains.= _Pr._
=Laziness is nothing unless you carry it out.=
_Pr._
=Laziness travels so slowly that poverty soon
overtakes him.= _Ben. Franklin._
=Lazy as Ludlam's dog, that laid his head
against the wall to bark.= _Pr._
=Lazy folks ask for work with their lips, but= 35
=their hearts pray God that they may not
find it.= _Creole saying._
=Lazy folk's stomachs don't get tired.= _Uncle
Remus._
=Lazy is the hand that ploughs not.= _Gael.
Pr._
=Le beau monde=--The fashionable world. _Fr._
=Le bestemmie fanno come le processioni;
ritornano donde partirono=--Curses are like
processions, they come back to whence they set
out. _It. Pr._
=Le bien ne se fait jamais mieux que lorsqu'il= 40
=opère lentement=--Good is never more effectually
done than when it is produced slowly.
_Fr. Pr._
=Le bon sens vulgaire est un mauvais juge
quand il s'agit des grandes choses=--Good
common-sense is a bad judge when it is a question
of high matters. _Renan._
=Le bon temps viendra=--The good time will
come. _M._
=Le bonheur de l'homme en cette vie ne consiste
pas à être sans passions, il consiste
à en être le maître=--The happiness of man
in this life does not consist in being devoid of
passions, but in mastering them. _Fr._
=Le bonheur des méchants comme un torrent
s'écoule=--The happiness of the wicked passes
away like a brook. _Racine._
=Le bonheur des peuples dépend et de la félicité= 45
=dont ils jouissent au dedans et du respect
qu'ils inspirent au dehors=--The welfare of
nations depends at once on the happiness which
they enjoy at home and the respect which they
command abroad. _Helvetius._
=Le bonheur et le malheur des hommes ne dépendent
pas moins de leur humeur que de
la fortune=--The happiness and unhappiness of
men depend as much on their dispositions as on
fortune. _La Roche._
=Le bonheur n'est pas chose aisée; il est très-difficile
de le trouver en nous, et impossible
de le trouver ailleurs=--Happiness is no easy
matter; it is very hard to find it within ourselves,
and impossible to find it elsewhere.
_Chamfort._
=Le bonheur ne peut être / Où la vertu n'est
pas=--Happiness cannot exist where virtue is not.
_Quinault._
=Le bonheur ou le malheur vont ordinairement
à ceux qui ont le plus de l'un ou de l'autre=--Good
fortune or bad generally falls to those who
have the greatest share of either. _La Roche._
=Le bonheur semble fait pour être partagé=--Happiness 50
seems appointed to be shared.
_Racine._
=Le bruit est si fort, qu'on n'entend pas Dieu
tonner=--The noise (of things) is so deafening
that we cannot hear God when He thunders.
_Fr. Pr._
=Le bruit est pour le fat, la plainte est pour le
sot, / L'honnête homme trompé s'éloigne et
ne dit mot=--Blustering is for the fop, whimpering
for the fool; the sensible man when deceived
goes off and says nothing. _Lanoue._
=Le chemin est long du projet à la close=--The
road is a long one from the projection of a thing
to its accomplishment. _Molière._
=Le ciel me prive d'une épouse qui ne m'a jamais
donné d'autre chagrin que celui de sa mort=--Heaven
bereaves me of a spouse who never
caused me any other vexation than by her death.
_Louis XIV. of his wife._
=Le citoyen peut périr, et l'homme rester=--The
citizen may perish and man remain. _Montesquieu._
=Le cœur a ses raisons, que la raison ne connoit
pas=--The heart has its reasons, which
reason does not know. _Pascal._
=Le cœur de l'homme n'est jamais si inflexible
que son esprit=--The heart of man is never so
inflexible as his intellect. _Lamartine._
=Le cœur d'une femme est un vrai miroir qui= 5
=reçoit toutes sortes d'objets sans s'attacher
à aucun=--The heart of woman is a real mirror,
which reflects every object without attaching
itself to any. _Fr._
=Le congrès ne marche pas; il danse=--The Congress
does not advance; it dances. _The Prince
de Ligne of the Vienna Congress._
=Le conquérant est craint, le sage est estimé, /
Mais le bienfaiteur plait, et lui seul est aimé=--The
conqueror is held in awe, the sage is
esteemed, but it is the benevolent man who
wins our affections and is alone beloved. _Fr._
=Le conseil manque à l'âme, / Et le guide au
chemin=--The soul wants counsel, and the road
a guide. _Fr._
=Le contraire des bruits qui courent des affaires,
ou des personnes, est souvent la vérité=--The
converse of what is currently reported about
things and people is often the truth. _La Bruyère._
=Le contrat du gouvernement est tellement dissous= 10
=par despotisme que le despot n'est le
maître qu'aussi long temps qu'il est le plus
fort; et que si tôt qu'on peut l'expulser, il
n'a point à réclaimer contre la violence=--The
contract of government is so dissolved by despotism,
that the despot is master only so long as
he is the strongest, and that as soon as there is
power to expel him, he has no right to protest
against the violent proceeding. _Rousseau._
=Le corps politique, aussi bien que le corps de
l'homme, commence à mourir dès sa naissance,
et porte en lui-même les causes de
sa destruction=--The body politic, like the body
of man, begins to die as soon as it is born, and
bears within it the seeds of its own dissolution.
_Rousseau._
=Le cose non sono come sono, ma come si
vedono=--Things are not as they are, but as
they are regarded. _It. Pr._
=Le courage est souvent un effet de la peur=--Courage
is often an effect of fear. _Fr. Pr._
=Le coûte en ôte le goût=--The cost takes away
from the relish. _Fr. Pr._
=Le cri d'un peuple heureux est la seule éloquence= 15
=qui doit parler des rois=--The acclaim
of a happy people is the only eloquence which
ought to speak in the behalf of kings.
=Le crime fait la honte, et non pas l'échafaud=--It
is the crime that's the disgrace, not the scaffold.
_Corneille._
=Le désespoir comble non seulement notre
misère, mais notre faiblesse=--Despair gives
the finishing blow not only to misery, but to
weakness. _Vauvenargues._
=Le désespoir redouble les forces=--Despair
doubles our powers. _Fr. Pr._
=Le despotisme tempéré par l'assassinat, c'est
notre Magna Charta=--Despotism tempered by
assassination is our Magna Charta. _A Russian
noble to Count Münster on the murder of the
Czar Paul._
=Le dessous des cartes=--The lower side of the 20
cards. _Fr._
=Le devoir, c'est l'âme intérieure, c'est la vie
de l'éducation=--Duty is the inner soul, the life
of education. _Michelet._
=Le devoir des juges est de rendre justice, leur
métier est de la différer; quelques uns savent
leur devoir, et font leur métier=--The
duty of judges is to administer justice, but their
practice is to delay it; some of them know their
duty, but adhere to the practice. _La Bruyère._
=Le diable était beau quand il était jeune=--The
devil was handsome when he was young. _Fr. Pr._
=Le divorce est le sacrement de l'adultère=--Divorce
is the sacrament of adultery.
=Le doute s'introduit dans l'âme qui rêve, la foi= 25
=descend dans l'âme qui souffre=--Doubt insinuates
itself into a soul that is dreaming;
faith comes down into one that struggles and
suffers.
=Le droit est au plus fort en amour comme en
guerre, / Et la femme qu'on aime aura toujours
raison=--Right is with the strongest in
love as in war, / And the woman we love will
always be right. _A. de Musset._
=Le feu qui semble éteint souvent dort dans la
cendre=--The fire which seems extinguished often
slumbers in the ashes. _Corneille._
=Le génie c'est la patience=--Genius is just
patience. _Fr. Pr._
=Le génie n'est autre chose qu'une grande aptitude
à la patience=--Genius is nothing else than
a sovereign capacity for patience. _Buffon._
=Le géologue est un nouveau genre d'antiquaire=--The 30
geologist is a new species of antiquarian.
(?)
=Le gouvernement représentatif est la justice
organisée, la raison vivante, la morale armée=--Representative
government is justice organised,
reason in living action, and morality armed.
_Royer Collard._
=Le grand art de la supériorité, c'est de saisir
les hommes par leur bon côté=--The great art
of superiority is getting hold of people by their
right side. _Mirabeau._
=Le grand monarque=--The grand monarch, Louis
XIV.
=Le grandeur et le discernement sont des choses
différentes, et l'amour pour la vertu, et pour
les vertueux une troisième chose=--High rank
and discernment are two different things, and
love for virtue and for virtuous people is a
third thing. _La Bruyère._
=Le hasard donne les pensées; le hazard les= 35
=ôte: point d'art pour conserver ni pour
acquérir=--Chance suggests thoughts; changes
deprive us of them: there is no rule for preserving
or acquiring them. _Pascal._
=Le hasard est un sobriquet de la Providence=--Chance
is a nickname for Providence. _Chamfort._
=Le jeu est le fils de l'avarice et le père du
désespoir=--Gambling is the son of avarice and
the father of despair. _Fr. Pr._
=Le jeu n'en vaut pas la chandelle=--The game is
not worth the candle. _Fr. Pr._
=Le jour viendra=--The day will come. _M._
=Le masque tombe, l'homme reste / Et le héros
s'évanouit=--The mask falls off, the man remains,
and the heroic vanishes. _J. B. Rousseau._
=Le mauvais métier que celui de censeur=--A
bad business that of censor. _Guy Patin._
=Le méchant n'est jamais comique=--A bad man
is never amusing. _De Maistre._
=Le médicin Tant-pis et le médicin Tant-mieux=--The
pessimist and the optimist (_lit._
Doctor So-much-the-worse and Doctor So-much-the-better).
_La Fontaine._
=Le mérité est souvent un obstacle à la fortune;= 5
=c'est qu'il produit toujours deux mauvais
effets, l'envie et la crainte=--Merit is often an
obstacle to fortune; the reason is it produces
two bad effects, envy and fear. _Fr._
=Le mieux est l'ennemi du bien=--Better is the
enemy of well. _Fr. Pr._
=Le moindre grain de mil serait bien mieux
mon affaire=--The smallest grain of millet would
serve my needs better. _La Fontaine, "The
Cock and the Pearl."_
=Le moineau en la main vaut mieux que l'oie
qui vole=--A sparrow in the hand is worth a
goose on the wing. _Fr. Pr._
=Le monde, chère Agnès, est une étrange chose=--The
world, dear Agnes, is a queer concern. _Molière._
=Le monde est le livre des femmes=--The world 10
is the book of women. _Rousseau._
=Le monde est plein de fous, et qui n'en veut
pas voir / Doit se tenir tout seul et casser
son miroir=--The world is full of madmen, and
he who would not see one must keep himself
quite alone and break his looking-glass.
=Le monde paye d'ingratitude=--The world pays
with ingratitude. _Fr. Pr._
=Le monde savant=--The learned world. _Fr._
=Le mort est le dernier trait du tableau de la
vie=--Death is the finishing touch in the picture
of life. _Fr._
=Le mot de l'énigme=--The key to the riddle. _Fr._ 15
=Le moy est haïssable=--Egotism is hateful.
_Pascal._
=Le moyen le plus sûr de se consoler de tout
ce qui peut arriver, c'est de s'attendre toujours
au pire=--The surest way to console one's
self against whatever may happen is always to
expect the worst. _Fr._
=Le nombre des élus au Parnasse est complet=--The
list of the elect of Parnassus is made up. (?)
=Le nombre des sages sera toujours petit=--The
wise will always be few in number.
=Le parjure est une vertu, / Lorsque le serment= 20
=fut un crime=--Perjury is a virtue when the oath
was a crime. _Voltaire._
=Le pas=--Precedence in place or rank. _Fr._
=Le pays du mariage a cela de particulier,
que les étrangers ont envie de l'habiter,
et les habitans naturels voudroient en être
exilés=--The land of matrimony possesses this
peculiarity, that strangers to it would like to
dwell in it, and the natural inhabitants wish
to be exiled. _Montaigne._
=Le pédant et l'instituteur disent à peu près
les mêmes choses; mais le premier les dit
à tout propos: le second ne les dit que
quand il est sûr de leur effet=--The pedant and
the teacher say nearly the same things; but the
former on every occasion, the latter only when
he is sure of their effect. _Rousseau._
=Le petit monde=--The lower orders. _Fr._
=Le peuple anglais pense être libre; il ne l'est= 25
=que durant l'élection des membres du parlement=--The
English think they are free; they
are free only during the election of members of
Parliament. _Rousseau._
=Le peuple est le cœur du pays=--The people is
the heart of a country. _Lamartine._
=Le peuple ne comprend que ce qu'il sent. Les
seuls orateurs pour lui sont ceux qui l'émeuvent=--The
people understand only what they
feel; the only orators that can affect them are
those who move them. _Lamartine._
=Le plaisir le plus délicat est de faire celui
d'autrui=--The most exquisite pleasure consists
in promoting the pleasures of others. _La
Bruyère._
=Le plus âne des trois n'est pas celui qu'on
pense=--The greatest ass of the three is not the
one who seems so. _La Fontaine, "The Miller,
his Son, and his Ass."_
=Le plus dangereux ridicule des vieilles personnes= 30
=qui sont aimables, c'est d'oublier
qu'elles ne le sont plus=--For old people, however
estimable, to forget that they are no longer
estimable is to expose themselves to certain ridicule.
_La Roche._
=Le plus lent à promettre est toujours le plus
fidèle à tenir=--He who is slow in promising is always
the most faithful in performing. _Rousseau._
=Le plus sage est celui qui ne pense point l'être=--The
wisest man is he who does not think he
is so. _Boileau._
=Le plus semblable aux morts meurt le plus à
regret=--He who most resembles the dead dies
with most reluctance. _La Fontaine._
=Le plus véritable marque d'être né avec de
grandes qualités, c'est d'être né sans envie=--The
sure mark of being born with noble qualities
is being born without envy. _La Roche._
=Le premier écu est plus difficile à gagner que= 35
=le second million=--The first five shillings are
harder to win than the second million. _Fr. Pr._
=Le premier soupir de l'amour est le dernier
de la sagesse=--The first sigh of love is the last
of wisdom. _Charron._
=Le présent est gros de l'avenir=--The present
is big with coming events. _Leibnitz._
=Le présent est pour ceux qui jouissent, l'avenir
pour ceux qui souffrent=--The present is for those
who enjoy, the future for those who suffer. _Fr._
=Le public! combien faut-il de sots pour faire
un public?=--The public! How many fools
must there be to make a public? _Chamfort._
=Le réel est étroit, le possible est immense=--The 40
real is limited, the possible is unlimited. _Lamartine._
=Le refus des louanges est souvent un désir
d'être loué deux fois=--The refusal of praise
often proceeds from a desire to have it repeated.
=Le repos est une bonne chose, mais l'ennui est
son frère=--Repose is a good thing, but ennui is
his brother. _Voltaire._
=Le reste ne vaut pas l'honneur d'être nommé=--The
rest don't deserve to be mentioned. _Corneille._
=Le roi est mort; vive le roi!=--The king is dead;
long live the king! _The form of announcing the
death of a French king._
=Le roy et l'état=--The king and the state. _M._ 45
=Le roi le veut=--The king wills it. _The formula
of royal assent in France._
=Le roi régne et ne gouverne pas=--The king
reigns but does not govern. _Thiers at the accession
of Louis Philippe._
=Le roi s'avisera=--The king will consider it. _The
form of a royal veto in France._
=Le sage entend à demi-mot=--A hint suffices for
a wise man. _Fr. Pr._
=Le sage quelquefois évite le monde de peur
d'être ennuyé=--The wise man sometimes shuns
society from fear of being bored. _La Bruyère._
=Le sage songe avant que de parler à ce qu'il= 5
=doit dire; le fou parle, et ensuite songe à ce
qu'il a dit=--A wise man thinks before he speaks
what he ought to say; the fool speaks and
thinks afterwards what he has said. _Fr. Pr._
=Le savoir faire=--Knowing how to act; ability.
=Le savoir vivre=--Knowing how to live; good
manners.
=Le secret d'ennuyer est celui de tout dire=--The
secret of boring people is saying all that can be
said on a subject. _Voltaire._
=Le sens commun est le génie de l'humanité=--Common
sense is the genius of humanity. _Goethe._
=Le sentiment de la liberté est plus vif, plus il= 10
=y entre de malignité=--The passion for liberty
is the keener the greater the malignity associated
with it. _Fr._
=Le silence du peuple est la leçon des rois=--The
silence of the people is a lesson to kings. _M. de
Beauvais._
=Le silence est l'esprit des sots, / Et l'une des
vertus du sage=--Silence is the wit of fools, and
one of the virtues of the wise man. _Bonnard._
=Le silence est la vertu de ceux qui ne sont pas
sages=--Silence is the virtue of those who want
it. _Bouhours._
=Le silence est le parti le plus sûr pour celui
qui se défie de soi-même=--Silence is the safest
course for the man who is diffident of himself.
_La Roche._
=Le soleil ni la mort ne se peuvent regarder= 15
=fixement=--Neither the sun nor death can be
looked at fixedly. _La Roche._
=Le sort fait les parents, le choix fait les amis=--It
is to chance we owe our relatives, to choice
our friends. _Delille._
=Le style est l'homme même=--The style is the
man himself. _Buffon._
=Le superflu, chose très-nécessaire=--The superfluous,
a thing highly necessary. _Voltaire._
=Le temps est un grand maître, il régle bien les
choses=--Time is a great master; it regulates
things well. _Corneille._
=Le temps guérit les douleurs et les querelles,= 20
=parcequ'on change, on n'est plus la même personne=--Time
heals our griefs and wranglings,
because we change, and are no longer the
same. _Pascal._
=Le temps n'épargne pas ce qu'on fait sans lui=--Time
preserves nothing that has been done
without her, _i.e._, that has taken no time to do.
_Favolle._
=Le tout ensemble=--The whole together. _Fr._
=Le travail du corps délivre des peines de
l'esprit; et c'est ce qui rend les pauvres
heureux=--Bodily labour alleviates the pains of
the mind, and hence arises the happiness of the
poor. _La Roche._
=Le travail éloigne de nous trois grand maux,
l'ennui, le vice, et le besoin=--Labour relieves us
from three great evils, ennui, vice, and want. _Fr._
=Le trépas vient tout guérir; / Mais ne bougeons= 25
=d'où nous sommes: / Plutôt souffrir
que mourir, / C'est la devise des hommes=--Death
comes to cure everything, but let us not
stir from where we are. "Endure sooner than
die," is the proper device for man. _La Fontaine._
=Le trident de Neptune est le sceptre du monde=--The
trident of Neptune is the sceptre of the
world. _Lemierre._
=Le vesciche galleggiano sopre aqua, mentre le
cose di peso vanno al fondo=--Bladders swim
on the surface of the water, while things of
weight sink to the bottom. _It. Pr._
=Le vivre et le couvert, que faut-il davantage?=--Life
and good fare, what more do we need?
_La Fontaine, "The Rat in Retreat."_
=Le vrai mérite ne dépend point du temps ni de
la mode=--True merit depends on neither time
nor mode. _Fr. Pr._
=Le vrai moyen d'être trompé, c'est de se croire= 30
=plus fin que les autres=--The most sure way to
be imposed on is to think one's self cleverer than
other people. _La Roche._
=Le vrai n'est pas toujours vraisemblable=--The
true is not always verisimilar. _Fr. Pr._
=Le vrai peut quelquefois n'être pas vraisemble=--What
is true may sometimes seem unlike
truth. _Boileau._
=Lead, kindly light, amid th' encircling gloom, /
Lead thou me on.= _Newman._
=Lead thine own captivity captive, and be
Cæsar within thyself.= _Sir Thomas Browne._
=Leal heart leed never.= _Sc. Pr._ 35
=Lean liberty is better than fat slavery.= _Pr._
=Lean not upon a broken reed, which will not
only let thee fall, but pierce thy arm too.=
_Thomas à Kempis._
=Lean, rent, and beggared by the strumpet
wind!= _Mer. of Ven._, ii. 6.
=Learn a craft while you are young, that you
may not have to live by craft when you are
old.= _Pr._
=Learn never to repine at your own misfortunes,= 40
=or to envy the happiness of another.=
_Addison._
=Learn of the little nautilus to sail, / Spread
the thin oar and catch the driving gale.=
_Pope._
=Learn taciturnity; let that be your motto.=
_Burns._
=Learn that nonsense is none the less nonsense
because it is in rhyme; and that rhyme without
a purpose or a thought that has not been
better expressed before is a public nuisance,
only to be tolerated because it is good for
trade.= _C. Fitzhugh._
=Learn the value of a man's words and expressions,
and you know him. Each man has a
measure of his own for everything; this he
offers you inadvertently in his words. He
who has a superlative for everything wants
a measure for the great or small.= _Lavater._
=Learn to be good readers, which is perhaps a= 45
=more difficult thing than you imagine. Learn
to be discriminative in your reading; to read
faithfully, and with your best attention, all
kinds of things which you have a real interest
in--a real, not an imaginary--and
which you find to be really fit for what you
are engaged in.= _Carlyle to students._
=Learn to be pleased with everything; with
wealth so far as it makes us of benefit to
others; with poverty, for not having much
to care for; and with obscurity, for being
unenvied.= _Plutarch._
=Learn to creep before you leap.= _Pr._
=Learn to hold thy tongue. Five words cost
Zacharias forty weeks' silence.= _Fuller._
=Learn to labour and to wait.= _Longfellow._
=Learn to say before you sing.= _Pr._ 5
=Learn to say No! and it will be of more use to
you than to be able to read Latin.= _Spurgeon._
=Learn wisdom from the follies of others.= _Pr._
=Learn you a bad habit, an' ye'll ca'd a custom.=
_Sc. Pr._
=Learn young, learn fair; / Learn auld, learn
mair.= _Sc. Pr._
=Learned fools are the greatest of all fools.= 10
_Ger. Pr._
=Learned Theban.= _Lear_, iii. 4.
=Learned without sense and venerably dull.=
_Churchill._
=Learning by study must be won, / 'Twas ne'er
entail'd from son to son.= _Gay._
=Learning hath gained most by those books by
which printers have lost.= _Fuller._
=Learning hath its infancy, when it is almost= 15
=childish; then its youth, when luxurious and
juvenile; then its strength of years, when
solid; and lastly its old age, when dry and
exhaust.= _Bacon._
=Learning is a companion on a journey to a
strange country.= _Hitopadesa._
=Learning is a dangerous weapon, and apt to
wound its master if it is wielded by a feeble
hand, and by one not well acquainted with
its use.= _Montaigne._
=Learning is a livelihood.= _Hitopadesa._
=Learning is a sceptre to some, a bauble to
others.= _Pr._
=Learning is a superior sight.= _Hitopadesa._ 20
=Learning is an addition beyond / Nobility of
birth; honour of blood, / Without the ornament
of knowledge, is / A glorious ignorance.=
_Shirley._
=Learning is better than hidden treasure.= _Hitopadesa._
=Learning is better worth than house or land.=
_Crabbe._
=Learning is but an adjunct to ourself; / And,
where we are, our learning likewise is.=
_Love's L. Lost_, iv. 3.
=Learning is not to be tacked to the mind, but= 25
=we must fuse and blend them together, not
merely giving the mind a slight tincture, but
a thorough and perfect dye.= _Montaigne._
=Learning is pleasurable, but doing is the
height of enjoyment.= _Novalis._
=Learning is strength inexhaustible.= _Hitopadesa._
=Learning is the dictionary, but sense the
grammar, of science.= _Sterne._
=Learning is the source of renown, and the fountain
of victory in the senate.= _Hitopadesa._
=Learning itself, received into a mind / By= 30
=nature weak or viciously inclined, / Serves
but to lead philosophers astray, / Where
children would with ease discern the way.=
_Cowper._
=Learning, like money, may be of so base a
coin as to be utterly devoid of use; or, if
sterling, may require good management to
make it serve the purpose of sense and
happiness.= _Shenstone._
=Learning, like the lunar beam, affords light,
not heat.= _Young._
=Learning makes a man a fit companion for
himself.= _Pr._
=Learning makes a man wise, but a fool is made
all the more a fool by it.= _Pr._
=Learning needs rest; sovereignty gives it.= 35
=Sovereignty needs counsel; learning affords
it.= _Ben Jonson._
=Learning once made popular is no longer
learning.= _Johnson._
=Learning passes for wisdom among them who
want both.= _Sir W. Temple._
=Learning puffeth men up; words are but
wind, and learning is nothing but words;
ergo, learning is nothing but wind.= _Swift._
=Learning to a man is a name superior to
beauty.= _Hitopadesa._
=Learning to the inexperienced is a poison.= 40
_Hitopadesa._
=Learning without thought is labour lost.= _Pr._
=Least said is soonest mended.= _Pr._
=Leave a jest when it pleases you best.= _Pr._
=Leave a man to his passions, and you leave a
wild beast of a savage and capricious nature.=
_Burke._
=Leave a welcome behind you.= _Pr._ 45
=Leave all piggies' ears alone rather than
seize upon the wrong one.= _Spurgeon._
=Leave all things to a Father's will, / And
taste, before him lying still, / Even in affliction,
peace.= _Anstice._
=Leave all to God, / Forsaken one, and stay
thy tears!= _Winkworth._
=Leave Ben Lomond where it stands.= _Sc.
Pr._
=Leave her to heaven, / And to those thorns= 50
=that in her bosom lodge, / To prick and
sting her.= _Ham._, i. 5.
=Leave it if you cannot mend it.= _Pr._
=Leave not the meat to gnaw the bones, /
Nor break your teeth on worthless stones.=
_Pr._
=Leave off no clothes / Till you see a June
rose.= _Pr._
="Leave off your fooling and come down, sir."=
_Oliver Cromwell._
=Leave the court ere the court leave you.= 55
_Sc. Pr._
=Leave the great ones of the world to manage
their own concerns, and keep your eyes and
observations at home.= _Thomas à Kempis._
=Leave this keen encounter of our wits, / And
fall somewhat into a slower method.= _Rich.
III._, i. 2.
=Leave to-morrow till to-morrow.= _Pr._
=Leave to the diamond its ages to grow, nor
expect to accelerate the births of the
eternal.= _Emerson._
=Leave well alone.= _Pr._ 60
=Leave you your power to draw, / And I shall
have no power to follow you.= _Mid. Night's
Dream_, ii. 2.
=Leaves enough, but few grapes.= _Pr._
=Leaves have their time to fall, / And flowers
to wither at the north wind's breath, / And
stars to set; but all, / Thou hast all seasons
for thine own, O death!= _Mrs. Hemans._
=Leaving for gleaner makes farmer no leaner.=
_Pr._
=Lebe, wie du, wenn du stirbst, / Wünschen
wirst, gelebt zu haben=--Live, as you will wish
to have lived when you come to die. _Gellert._
=Leben athme die bildende Kunst, / Geist fordr'
ich vom Dichter=--Let painting and sculpture
breathe life; it is spirit itself I require of the
poet. _Schiller._
=Leben heisst träumen: weise sein heisst= 5
=angenehm träumen=--To live is to dream, to
be wise is to dream agreeably. _Schiller._
=Leberide cæcior=--Blinder than a serpent's slough.
_Pr._
=Led by illusions romantic and subtle deceptions
of fancy, / Pleasure disguised as duty,
and love in the semblance of friendship.=
_Longfellow._
=Leeze me o' drink; it gies us mair / Than
either school or college; / It kindles wit, it
waukens lair= (learning), / =It pangs= (stuffs) =us
fu' o' knowledge.= _Burns._
=Legant prius et postea despeciant=--Let them
read first, and despise afterwards. _Lope de
Vega._
=Legatus a latere=--An extraordinary Papal ambassador. 10
=Lege totum si vis scire totum=--Read the whole
if you wish to know the whole.
=Legem brevem esse oportet quo facilius ab
imperitis teneatur=--A law ought to be short,
that it may be the more easily understood by
the unlearned. _Sen._
=Leges ad civium salutem, civitatumque incolumitatem
conditæ sunt=--Laws were framed for
the welfare of citizens and the security of states.
_Cic._
=Leges bonæ malis ex moribus procreantur=--Good
laws are begotten of bad morals. _Pr._
=Leges mori serviunt=--Laws are subordinate to 15
custom. _Plaut._
=Leges posteriores priores contrarias abrogant=--Later
statutes repeal prior contrary ones. _L._
=Leges sunt inventæ quæ cum omnibus semper
una atque eadem voce loquerentur=--Laws are
so devised that they may always speak with one
and the same voice to all. _Cic._
=Legimus ne legantur=--We read that others may
not read. _Lactantius._
=Legis constructio non facit injuriam=--The construction
of the law does injury to no man. _L._
=Legum ministri magistratus, legum interpretes= 20
=judices; legum denique idcirco omnes servi
sumus, ut liberi esse possimus=--The magistrates
are the ministers of the laws, the judges
their interpreters; we are all, in short, servants
of the laws, that we may be free men. _Cic._
=Leib und Seele schmachten in hundert Banden,
die unzerreissbar sind, aber auch in hundert
andern, die ein einziger Entschluss zerreisst=--Body
and soul languish under a hundred entanglements
from which there is no deliverance,
but also in hundreds of others which a single
resolution can snap away. _Feuchtersleben._
=Leicht zu sättigen ist, und unersättlich, die
Liebe=--Love is at once easy to satisfy and
insatiable. _Rückert._
=Leichter trägt, was er trägt, / Wer Geduld
zur Bürde legt=--He bears what he bears more
lightly who adds patience to the burden. _Logau._
=Leisure and solitude are the best effect of
riches, because mother of thought. Both
are avoided by most rich men, who seek
company and business, which are signs of
their being weary of themselves.= _Sir W.
Temple._
=Leisure for men of business, and business for= 25
=men of leisure, would cure many complaints.=
_Mrs. Thrale._
=Leisure is seldom enjoyed with perfect satisfaction
except in solitude.= _Zimmermann._
=Leisure is the reward of labour.= _Pr._
=Leisure is time for doing something useful;
this leisure the diligent man will obtain; the
lazy man never.= _Ben. Franklin._
=Lend, hoping for nothing again.= _Bible._
=Lend only what you can afford to lose.= 30
_Pr._
=Length of saying makes languor of hearing.=
_J. Roux._
=Lenior et melior fis, accedente senecta=--You
become milder and better as old age advances.
_Hor._
=Leniter ex merito quidquid patiare ferendum
est, / Quæ venit indigne pœna dolenda venit=--Whatever
you suffer deservedly should be
borne with resignation; the penalty that comes
upon us undeservedly comes as a matter of just
complaint. _Ovid._
=Lenity is part of justice.= _Joubert._
=Lenity will operate with greater force, in some= 35
=instances, than rigour. It is, therefore, my
first wish to have my whole conduct distinguished
by it.= _G. Washington._
=Leonem larva terres=--You frighten a lion with
a mask. _Pr._
=Leonina societas=--Partnership with a lion.
=Leonum ora a magistris impune tractantur=--The
mouths of lions are with impunity handled
by their keepers. _Sen._
=Leporis vitam vivit=--He lives the life of a hare,
_i.e._, always full of fear. _Pr._
=Lern' entbehren, O Freund, / Beut Trotz dem= 40
=Schmerz und dem Tode, / Und kein Gott des
Olymps fühlet sich freier, als du=--Learn to
dispense with things, O friend, bid defiance to
pain and death, and no god on Olympus breathes
more freely than thou. _Bürger._
=Lerne vom Schlimmsten Gutes, und Schlimmes
nicht vom Besten=--Learn good from the worst,
and not bad from the best. _Lavater._
=Les affaires? c'est bien simple: c'est l'argent
des autres=--Business? That's easily defined:
it is other people's money. _Dumas fils._
=Les affaires font les hommes=--Business makes
men. _Fr._
=Les amertumes sont en morale ce que sont les
amers en médicine=--Afflictions are in morals
what bitters are in medicine. _Fr._
=Les âmes privilégiées rangent à l'égal des= 45
=souverains=--Privileged souls rank on a level
with princes. _Frederick the Great._
=Les amis, ces parents que l'on se fait soi-même=--Friends,
those relations that we make
ourselves.
=Les amis de mes amis sont mes amis=--My
friends' friends are my friends. _Fr. Pr._
=Les anglais s'amusent tristement=--The English
have a heavy-hearted way of amusing themselves.
_Sully._
=Les beaux esprits se rencontrent=--Great wits
draw together. _Fr. Pr._
=Les belles actions cachées sont les plus estimables=--The
acts that we conceal are regarded
with the highest esteem. _Pascal._
=Les biens mal acquis s'en vont à vau-l'eau=--Wealth
ill acquired soon goes (_lit._ goes with the
stream). _Fr. Pr._
=Les biens viennent, les biens s'en vont, /= 5
=Comme la fumée, comme toute chose=--Wealth
comes and goes like smoke, like everything.
_Bret. Pr._
=Les bras croisés=--Idle (_lit._ the arms folded). _Fr._
=Les cartes sont brouillées=--A fierce dissension
has arisen (_lit._ the cards are mixed).
=Les choses valent toujours mieux dans leur
source=--Things are always best at their source.
_Pascal._
=Les cloches appellent à l'église, mais n'y entrent
pas=--The bells call to church, but they
do not enter. _Fr. Pr._
=Les consolations indiscrètes ne font qu'aigrir= 10
=les violentes afflictions=--Consolation indiscreetly
pressed only aggravates the poignancy
of the affliction. _Rousseau._
=Les délicats sont malheureux, / Rien ne saurait
les satisfaire=--The fastidious are unfortunate;
nothing satisfies them. _La Fontaine._
=Les enfants sont ce qu'on les fait=--Children are
what we make them. _Fr. Pr._
=Les envieux mourront, mais non jamais l'envie=--The
envious will die, but envy never will.
_Molière._
=Les esprits médiocres condamnent d'ordinaire
tout ce qui passe leur portée=--Men of limited
intelligence generally condemn everything that is
above their power of understanding. _La Roche._
=Les extrêmes se touchent=--Extremes meet. 15
_Mercier._
=Les femmes ont toujours quelque arrière-pensée=--Women
have always some mental
reservation. _Destouches._
=Les femmes ont un instinct céleste pour le
malheur=--Women have a divine instinctive feeling
for misfortune. _Fr._
=Les femmes peuvent tout, parcequ'elles gouvernent
les personnes qui gouvernent tout=--Women
can accomplish everything, because they
govern those who govern everything. _Fr. Pr._
=Les femmes sont extrêmes: elles sont meilleures
ou pires que les hommes=--Women indulge
in extremes; they are always either better
or worse than men. _La Bruyère._
=Les gens qui ont peu d'affaires, sont de très= 20
=grands parleurs=--People who have little to do
are excessive talkers. _Fr._
=Les gens sans bruit sont dangereux=--Still
people are dangerous. _La Fontaine._
=Les girouettes qui sont placées le plus haut,
tournent le mieux=--Weathercocks placed on
the most elevated stations turn the most readily.
_Fr. Pr._
=Les grandes âmes ne sont pas celles qui ont
moins de passions et plus de vertus que les
âmes communes, mais celles seulement qui
ont de plus grands desseins=--Great souls are
not those who have fewer passions and more
virtues than common souls, but those only who
have greater designs. _La Roche._
=Les grands et les petits ont mêmes accidents,
et mêmes fâcheries et mêmes passions, mais
l'un est au haut de la roue et l'autre près
du centre, et ainsi moins agité par les mêmes
mouvements=--Great and little are subject to
the same mischances, worries, and passions, but
one is on the rim of the wheel and the other near
the centre, and so is less agitated by the same
movements. _Pascal._
=Les grands hommes ne se bornent jamais dans= 25
=leurs desseins=--Great men never limit themselves
to a circumscribed sphere of action. _Bouhours._
=Les grands hommes sont non-seulement populaires:
ils donnent la popularité à tout ce
qu'ils touchent=--Great men are not only popular
themselves; they give popularity to whatever
they touch. _Fournier._
=Les grands ne sont grands que parceque nous
sommes à genoux; relevons-nous!=--The great
are great only because we are on our knees. Let
us rise up. _Quoted by Prudhomme._
=Les grands noms abaissent, au lieu d'élever
ceux qui ne les savent pas soutenir=--High
titles lower, instead of raising, those who know
not how to support them. _La Roche._
=Les grands seigneurs ont des plaisirs, le peuple
a de la joie=--High people have pleasures, common
people have joy. _Montesquieu._
=Les haines sont si longues et si opiniâtres,= 30
=que le plus grand signe de mort dans un
homme malade, c'est la réconciliation=--The
passion of hatred is so long-lived and obstinate
a malady, that the surest prognostic of death in
a sick man is his desire for reconciliation. _La
Bruyère._
=Les hommes extrêmement heureux et les
hommes extrêmement malheureux, sont
également portés à la dureté=--Men extremely
happy and men extremely unhappy
are alike prone to become hard-hearted. _Montesquieu._
=Les hommes font les lois, les femmes font les
mœurs=--Men make the laws, women the manners.
_Guibert._
=Les hommes fripons en détail sont en gros de
très honnêtes gens=--Men who are knaves severally
are in the mass highly honourable people.
_Montesquieu._
=Les hommes ne sont justes qu'envers ceux
qu'ils aiment=--Men are just only to those they
love. _Fr._
=Les hommes sont cause que les femmes ne= 35
=s'aiment point=--It is on account of the men
that the women do not love each other. _La
Bruyère._
=Les hommes sont rares=--Men are rare. _Fr.
Pr._
=Les honneurs changent les mœurs=--Honours
change manners. _Fr. Pr._
=Les honneurs coutent à qui veut les posséder=--Honours
are dearly bought by whoever wishes
to possess them. _Fr. Pr._
=Les jeunes gens disent ce qu'ils font, les
vieillards ce qu'ils ont fait, et les sots ce
qu'ils ont envie de faire=--Young people talk of
what they are doing, old people of what they
have done, and fools of what they have a mind
to do. _Fr._
=Les jours se suivent et ne se ressemblent pas=--The 40
days follow, but are not like each other.
_Fr. Pr._
=Les magistrates, les rois n'ont aucune autorité
sur les âmes; et pourvu qu'on soit fidèle
aux lois de la société dans ce monde, ce
n'est point à eux de se mêler de ce qu'on
deviendra dans l'autre, où ils n'ont aucune
inspection=--Rulers have no authority over men's
souls; and provided we are faithful to the laws
of society in this world, it is no business of theirs
to concern themselves with what may become of
us in the next, over which they have no supervision.
_Rousseau._
=Les maladies viennent à cheval, retournent à
pied=--Diseases make their attack on horseback,
but retire on foot. _Fr._
=Les malheureux qui ont de l'esprit trouvent
des resources en eux-mêmes=--Men of genius
when under misfortune find resources within
themselves. _Bouhours._
=Les maximes des hommes décèlent leur cœur=--Men
show what they are by their maxims.
_Vauvenargues._
=Les méchants sont toujours surpris de trouver= 5
=de l'habilité dans les bons=--Wicked men are
always surprised to discover ability in good men.
_Vauvenargues._
=Les médiocrités croient égaler le génie en dépassant
la raison=--Men of moderate abilities
think to rank as geniuses by outstripping reason.
_Lamartine._
=Les mœurs du prince contribuent autant à la
liberté que les lois=--The manners of the prince
conduce as much to liberty as the laws. _Montesquieu._
=Les mœurs se corrompent de jour en jour, et
on ne saurait plus distinguer les vrais d'avec
les faux amis=--Our manners are daily degenerating,
and we can no longer distinguish
true friends from false. _Fr._
=Les moissons, pour mûrir, ont besoin de rosée, /
Pour vivre et pour sentir, l'homme a besoin
des pleurs=--Harvests to ripen have need of dew;
man, to live and to feel, has need of tears. _A.
de Musset._
=Les mortels sont égaux; ce n'est point la naissance, /= 10
=C'est la seule vertu qui fait la différence=--All
men are equal; it is not birth, it is
virtue alone that makes the difference. _Voltaire._
=Les murailles= (or =murs=) =ont des oreilles=--Walls
have ears. _Fr. Pr._
=Les passions personelles se lassent et s'usent;
les passions publiques jamais=--Private passions
tire and exhaust themselves; public ones
never. _Lamartine._
=Les passions sont les seuls orateurs qui
persuadent toujours=--The passions are the
only orators which always convince us. _La
Roche._
=Les passions sont les vents qui enflent les
voiles du vaisseau; elles le submergent
quelquefois, mais sans elles il ne pourrait
voguer=--The passions are the winds that fill
the sails of the ship; they sometimes sink it,
but without them it could not make any way.
_Voltaire._
=Les passions sont les vents qui font aller notre= 15
=vaisseau, et la raison est le pilote qui le
conduit; le vaisseau n'irait point sans les
vents, et se perdrait sans le pilote=--The passions
are the winds which propel our vessel; our
reason is the pilot that steers her; without winds
the vessel would not move; without pilot she
would be lost. _Fr._
=Les petits chagrins rendent tendre; les grands,
dur et farouche=--Slight troubles render us
tender; great ones make us hard and unfeeling.
_André Chénier._
=Les peuples une fois accoutumés à des maîtres
ne sont plus en état de s'en passer=--People
once accustomed to masters are no longer able to
dispense with them. _Rousseau._
=Les plaisirs sont amers si tôt qu'on en abuse=--Pleasures
become bitter as soon as they are
abused. _Fr. Pr._
=Les plus grands crimes ne coutent rien aux
ambitieux, quand il s'agit d'une couronne=--The
greatest crimes cause no remorse in an ambitious
man when a crown is at stake. _Fr._
=Les plus grands hommes d'une nation sont= 20
=ceux qu'elle met à mort=--The greatest men
of a nation are those whom it puts to death.
_Renan._
=Les plus malheureux osent pleurer le moins=--Those
who are most wretched dare least give
vent to their grief. _Fr._
=Les querelles ne dureraient pas longtemps, si
le tort n'était que d'un côté=--Quarrels would
not last so long if the fault lay only on one side.
_La Roche._
=Les races se féminisent=--Races are becoming
effeminate. _Fr._
=Les républiques finissent par le luxe; les monarchies
par la pauvreté=--Luxury ruins republics;
poverty, monarchies. _Montesquieu._
=Les rivières sont des chemins qui marchent=--Rivers 25
are moving roads. _Pascal._
=Les sophistes ont ébranlé l'autel, mais ce sont
les prêtres qui l'ont avili=--The sophists have
shaken the altar, but it is the priests that have
disgraced it. _Regnault de Waren._
=Les sots depuis Adam sont en majorité=--Ever
since Adam's time fools have been in the majority.
_Delavigne._
=Les talents sont distribués par la nature, sans
égard aux généalogies=--Talents go by nature,
not by birth. _Frederick the Great._
=Les utopies ne sont souvent que des vérités
prématuriées=--Utopias are often only premature
truths. _Lamartine._
=Les vérités sont des fruits qui ne doivent être= 30
=cueillis que bien mûrs=--Truths, like fruits, ought
not to be gathered until they are quite ripe, _i.e._,
till the time is ripe for them. _Fr. Pr._
=Les vers sont enfants de la lyre; / Il faut les
chanter, non les lire=--Verses are children of
the lyre; they must be sung, not read. _Fr._
=Les vertus se perdent dans l'intérêt comme
les fleuves se perdent dans la mer=--Our
virtues lose themselves in our interests, as the
rivers lose themselves in the ocean. _La Roche._
=Les vieillards aiment à donner de bons préceptes,
pour se consoler de n'être plus en
état de donner de mauvais exemples=--Old
men like to give good precepts, to make amends
for being no longer able to set bad examples. _La
Roche._
=Les vieilles coutumes sont les bonnes coutumes=--The
old customs are the good customs. _Bret.
Pr._
=Les vieux fous sont plus fous que les jeunes=--Old 35
fools are more foolish than young ones. _La
Roche._
=Les villes sont le gouffre de l'espèce humaine=--Towns
are the sink of our race. _Rousseau._
=Lèse-majesté=--High-treason. _Fr._
=Leser, wie gefall' ich dir? / Leser, wie gefällst
du mir?=--Reader, how please I thee? Reader,
how pleasest thou me? _M._
=Less in rising into lofty abstractions lies the
difficulty, than in seeing well and lovingly
the complexities of what is at hand.= _Carlyle._
=Less of your courtesy and more of your purse.=
_Pr._
=Less of your honey and more of your honesty.= 5
_Pr._
=Lessons hard to learn are sweet to know.=
_Pr._
=Lessons of wisdom have never such power
over us as when they are wrought into the
heart through the groundwork of a story
which engages the passions.= _Sterne._
=Lessons of wisdom open to our view / In all
life's varied scenes of gay or gloomy hue.=
_De Bosch._
=Let a good pot have a good lid.= _Pr._
=Let a hoard always be made, but not too= 10
=great a hoard.= _Hitopadesa._
=Let a horse drink when he will, not what he
will.= _Pr._
=Let a man be a man, and a woman a woman.=
_Pr._
=Let a man be but born ten years sooner or
ten years later, his whole aspect and performance
shall be different.= _Goethe._
=Let a man believe in God, and not in names,
places, and persons.= _Emerson._
=Let a man do his work; the fruit of it is the= 15
=care of Another than he.= _Carlyle._
=Let a man overcome anger by love, let him
overcome evil by good; let him overcome
the greedy by liberality, the liar by truth.=
_Buddha._
=Let a saint be ever so humble, he will have his
wax taper.= _Dan. Pr._
=Let a woman once give you a task, and you
are hers, heart and soul; all your care and
trouble lend new charms to her for whose
sake they are taken.= _Jean Paul._
=Let ae deil ding= (beat) =anither.= _Sc. Pr._
=Let all things be done decently and in order.= 20
_St. Paul._
=Let anger's fire be slow to burn.= _Pr._
=Let another do what thou wouldst do.= _Pr._
=Let another man praise thee, and not thine
own mouth; a stranger, and not thine own
lips.= _Bible._
=Let another's shipwreck be your beacon.= _Pr._
=Let any man compare his present fortune= 25
=with the past, and he will probably find
himself, upon the whole, neither better nor
worse than formerly.= _Goldsmith._
=Let authors write for glory or reward; / Truth
is well paid when she is sung and heard.=
_Bp. Corbet._
=Let but the mirror be clear, this is the great
point; the picture must and will be genuine.=
_Carlyle._
=Let but the public mind once become thoroughly
corrupt, and all attempts to secure
property, liberty, or life by mere force of
laws written on parchment will be as vain
as putting up printed notices in an orchard
to keep off canker-worms.= _Hor. Mann._
=Let byganes be byganes, / Wha's huffed at
anither, / Dinna cloot the auld days / And the
new anes thegither; / Wi' the fauts and the
failings / O' past years be dune, / Wi a grip
o' fresh freen'ship / A New-Year begin.=
_M. W. Wood._