French proverbs




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A

 * A bien petite occasion Se saisit le loup du mouton.
 * English equivalent: The wolf finds a reason for taking the lamb.


 * À bois noueux, hache affilée.
 * English equivalent: You must meet roughness with roughness


 * À chaque fou plaît sa marotte.
 * English equivalent: Every fool is pleased with his own folly.


 * À chaque oiseau son nid est beau.
 * English equivalent: The bird loves her own nest.


 * À goupil endormi rien ne tombe en la gueule.
 * English equivalent: Liars should have a good memory.


 * À grands maux, grands remèdes. / Aux grands maux, les grands remèdes.
 * Desperate times call for desperate measures/Desperate diseases must have desperate cures.
 * "The sick in soul insist that it is humanity that is sick, and they are the surgeons to operate on it. They want to turn the world into a sickroom. And once they get humanity strapped to the operating table, they operate on it with an ax."
 * Eric Hoffer, The Passionate State Of Mind, and Other Aphorisms (1955), Section 124.


 * À mauvais ouvrier point de bon outil.
 * A bad craftsman blames his tools.


 * À mauvaise tête bonnes jambes.
 * English equivalent: A forgetful head makes a weary pair of heels.


 * À cheval donné on ne regarde pas les dents (French) / la bride (Canadian).
 * Don't look a gift horse in the mouth.
 * "Gifts and donations in general, whether their value be more or less, should be accounted tokens of kindness and received with promptness and cordiality."


 * À confesseurs, médicins, avocats, la vérité ne cèle de ton cas.
 * English equivalent: Hide nothing from thy minister, physician and lawyer.


 * À l'étroit mais entre amis.


 * À l'œuvre, on connaît l'artisan.
 * A workman is known by his chips.
 * Jean de La Fontaine,  Fables (1668–1679), I., 21, Les Frelons et les Mouches à miel; reported in Thomas Benfield Harbottle and Philip Hugh Dalbiac, Dictionary of Quotations (French and Italian) (1904), p. 1.


 * A peine sera bon maistre qui n'a esté serviteur.
 * English equivalent: Who has not served cannot command.


 * Aujourd'hui à moy, demain à toy.
 * English equivalent: To day thee, to morrow me.


 * À raconter ses maux, souvent on les soulage.
 * A problem shared is a problem halved.


 * À tort se lamente de la mer qui ne s'ennuie d'y retourner.
 * He complains wrongfully at the sea that suffer shipwreck twice.
 * "The only thing I learn from my mistakes is how to make them more spectacular."
 * Stephen Lee, Twitter (2018)


 * À qui il a été beaucoup donné, il sera beaucoup demandé.
 * Everybody to whom much is given, much is expected.
 * "Technological progress has merely provided us with more efficient means for going backwards."
 * Aldous Huxley Ends and Means (1937)


 * Abondance de bien ne nuit pas.
 * A store is no sore; Keep a thing seven years and you'll find a use for it.
 * Meaning: "An object that seems useless now may be just what you need at some future time, so do not discard it."
 * Source for meaning of


 * Aide-toi et le ciel t'aidera.
 * Heaven helps those who help themselves.
 * "When in trouble first of all every one themselves should do their best to improve their condition."


 * Amour, toux et fumée en secret ne sont demeurés.
 * Love, smoke and cough are hard to hide.
 * "Two things a man can't hide; that he is drunk and that he is in love."
 * Aman Jassal, Rainbow - the shades of love (2014)


 * Après la pluie, le beau temps.
 * After rain comes sunshine.


 * A tout pourquoi il y a (un) parce que.
 * Every why has a wherefore.
 * A problem never exists in isolation; it is surrounded by other problems in space and time. '''The more of the context of a problem that a scientist can comprehend, the greater are his chances of finding a truly adequate solution.
 * Russell L. Ackoff, The development of operations research as a science (1956)


 * À tout seigneur, tout honneur.
 * English equivalent: Give credit where credit is due


 * A qui la tête fait mal, souffre par tout le corps.
 * When the head is sick, the whole body is sick.


 * A vrai dire peu de paroles.
 * Truth gives a short answer, lies go round about.
 * "The truth needs no colors."

B

 * Bacchus a noyé plus de gens que Neptune.
 * English equivalent: Wine has drowned more than the sea.
 * "A good way to define alcohol abuse is this: If it causes a problem, it is a problem."
 * Cyndi Turner, Can I Keep Drinking?: How You Can Decide When Enough is Enough (2016)


 * Beaucoup de paille, peu de grains.
 * Great cry and little wool.
 * "Much ado about nothing."
 * Source for meaning of


 * Bien mal acquis ne profite jamais.
 * Ill gotten goods never prosper.
 * "A planet full of people meant nothing against the dictates of economic necessity!"
 * Isaac Asimov, The Currents of Space (1952).


 * Bien nourri et mal appris.
 * Well fed and poorly taught.
 * "For if absurdity be the subject of laughter, doubt you not but great boldness is seldom without some absurdity."


 * Bois tordu fait feu droit.
 * Crooked logs make straight fires.


 * Bon cœur ne peut mentir.
 * The heart sees farther than the head.
 * Literal: "Good heart cannot lie"
 * "Occasionally he stumbled over the truth, but hastily picked himself up and hurried on as if nothing had happened."
 * Winston Churchill, On Stanley Baldwin, as cited in Churchill by Himself (2008), Ed. Langworth, PublicAffairs, p. 322 ISBN 1586486381
 * Also quoted by Kay Halle in Irrepressible Churchill: A Treasury of Winston Churchill's Wit (1966).
 * Josiah Gilbert Holland Dictionary of Burning Words of Brilliant Writers (1895)


 * Bon est le médecin qui se peut guérir.
 * English equivalent: He's an ill cook that cannot lick his own fingers.


 * Bon marché tire agent de bourse.
 * If you buy cheaply, you pay dearly.


 * Bon sang ne saurait mentir.
 * Good blood always shows itself.
 * Alain-René Lesage, Gil Blas (1715-1735), X., 1; reported in Thomas Benfield Harbottle and Philip Hugh Dalbiac, Dictionary of Quotations (French and Italian) (1904), p. 13.
 * Alternately reported as Bon sang ne saurait mentir, "Good blood wouldn't know how to lie".


 * Bonne enclume ne craint pas le marteau.
 * English equivalent: A good anvil does not fear the hammer.


 * Bonne renommée vaut mieux que ceinture dorée.
 * A good name is the best of all treasures.
 * "If a man has good corn, or wood, or boards, or pigs to sell, or can make better chairs or knives, crucibles, or church organs, than anybody else, you will find a broad, hard-beaten road to his house, tho it be in the woods. 'tis certain that the secret can not be kept: the first witness tells it to a second, and men go by fives and tens and fifties to his door."
 * Ralph Waldo Emerson, Works, Volume VIII. In his Journal. (1855), p. 528. (Ed. 1912)
 * Source:


 * Bonne volonté est reputé pour le fait.
 * Take the will for the deed.
 * "We must always give people credit for their good intentions, even if they fail to carry them through."


 * Bons nageurs sont à la fin noyés.
 * Good swimmers are often drowned.

C

 * C'est donner deux fois, donner promptement.
 * Translation and He gives twice, who gives in a trice.


 * C'est folie de commencer ce qu'on ne peut achever.
 * English equivalent: Better never begun than never ended; He that takes the devil into the boat must carry him over the sound.


 * C'est la paille et la poutre.
 * It's the straw and the beam.
 * English equivalent: You see the splinter in another's eye but fail to see the beam in your own.


 * C'est viande mal prête que lièvre en buisson.
 * English translation: First catch your hare and cook him.


 * Ce que chante la corneille, chante le corneillon.
 * As the old crow sings, so sing its fledglings.
 * Source:


 * Ce qui croît soudain, périt le lendemain.
 * Early ripe, early rotten.


 * Ce que l'enfant écoute au foyer, est bientôt connu jusqu'au moutier.
 * English translation: What children hear at home, soon flies abroad.


 * Ce que tout le monde dit doit être vrai.
 * What everybody says must be true.


 * Ce qui est bon pour l'un est bon pour l'autre.
 * English equivalent: What's good for the goose is good for the gander.


 * Celui qui n'est pas avec moi est contre moi.
 * He who is not with me is against me.
 * Originally from the Bible, Luke 11:23 and Matthew 12:30. Specificed as a proverb in (Strauss, 1994 p. 974).


 * Celui qui est lent à manger est lent à travailler.
 * Quick at meat, quick at work.


 * Celui que veut être jeune quand il est vieux, doit être vieux quand il est jeune.
 * They who would be young when they are old must be old when they are young.


 * Celui qui fuit de bonne heure peut combattre derechef.
 * He that flees and runs away might live to see another day.


 * C'est l'exception qui confirme la règle.
 * It's the exception that proves the rule.
 * Source:


 * C'est la poule qui chante qui a fait l'œuf.
 * Source:


 * C'est le ton qui fait la chanson.
 * It's not what you do it's the way that you do it.
 * Source:


 * C'est en forgeant qu'on devient forgeron.
 * Practice makes perfect.
 * Source:

but thou may'st a Friend into an Enemy."
 * C'est trop d'un ennemi et pas assez de cent amis.
 * Do not think that one enemy is insignificant, or that a thousand friends are too many.
 * "Thou canst not joke an Enemy into a Friend;
 * Benjamin Franklin, Poor Richard's Almanack (1739)


 * C'est vouloir prendre des lièvres au son du tambour.
 * Drumming is not the way to catch a hare.


 * Ce n'est pas la vache qui crie le plus fort qui donne le plus de lait.
 * It is not the hen who cackles the loudest who hatches the most eggs.
 * Source:


 * Ce qui est fait n'est plus à faire.
 * What is done no longer needs to be done.
 * Source:


 * Ceux que Jupiter veut perdre, il commence par leur oter la raison.
 * Whom God will destroy, he first make mad.


 * Chacun doit balayer.
 * Everyone should sweep before his own door.
 * "The true secret of giving advice is, after you have honestly given it, to be perfectly indifferent whether it is taken or not, and never persist in trying to set people right. That has been my secret, and I have never had any quarrels. What if people are fools or knaves, it is not your house-keeping and you had far better leave them to their fate. The more you try to prove yourselves in the right and D. in the wrong, the more you will confirm him in his own views. Nothing makes people more furious than being proved to be in the wrong; and even if you convince D. he will always hate you."
 * Hannah Whitall Smith, Philadelphia Quaker: The Letters of Hannah Whitall Smith (1950), p. 146 (part_5, p. 3 in linked document).


 * Chacun pour soi et Dieu pour tous.
 * Every one for himself and God for us all.
 * Henri Estienne, Les Prémices (1595), Epigramme CXXX; reported in Thomas Benfield Harbottle and Philip Hugh Dalbiac, Dictionary of Quotations (French and Italian) (1904), p. 28 (reported in Harbotle as "pour soy", rather than "pour soi").


 * Chacun peut être riche en promesses.


 * Chacun sent le mieux où le soulier le blesse.
 * No one knows where the shoe pinches, but he who wears it.
 * Meaning: "Nobody can fully understand another person's hardship or suffering."
 * Source for meaning of


 * Chagrin partagé, chagrin diminué; plaisir partagé, plaisir doublé.
 * Joy shared, joy doubled: sorrow shared, sorrow halved.
 * Also: Joy shared, joy doubled: sorrow shared, sorrow halved.
 * Source for proverb:


 * Chaque chose vaut son prix.
 * Everything is worth its price.


 * Chaque jour une pomme conserve son homme.
 * An apple a day keeps the doctor away.


 * Charité bien ordonnée commence par soi-même.
 * Charity begins at home.
 * "If we neglect objects of charity at home, or within the circle of our immediate acquaintance, to extend our good deeds to those abroad, our sincerity, our motives, and our character, are suspected, and there is ground of suspicion. For it is in the order of nature to relieve, first, by our liberality and benefactions, those connected with us, - our families, and immediate neighborhood."
 * Source for meaning of
 * Adrien de Montluc, La Comédie de Proverbes, Act III., Scene VII (translated by Le Prevost); reported in Thomas Benfield Harbottle and Philip Hugh Dalbiac, Dictionary of Quotations (French and Italian) (1904), p. 29 (reported in Harbotle as "soy-même", rather than "soi-même").


 * Chat échaudé craint l'eau froide.
 * A scalded cat fears cold water.
 * Once bitten, twice shy.
 * If you ever have been hurt by something, you'll be over-cautious of anything that even looks the same.
 * Adrien de Montluc, La Comédie de Proverbes, Act I, Scene VI (translated by Macee); reported in Thomas Benfield Harbottle and Philip Hugh Dalbiac, Dictionary of Quotations (French and Italian) (1904), p. 30.


 * Chassez le naturel, il revient au galop.
 * Chase away the natural and it returns at a gallop.
 * If you cast out nature with a fork, it will still return.
 * Philippe Néricault Destouches, Le Glorieux, Act III., Scene V (translated by Lisette); reported in Thomas Benfield Harbottle and Philip Hugh Dalbiac, Dictionary of Quotations (French and Italian) (1904), p. 29.


 * Cherchons la femme.
 * Let us look for the woman.
 * A woman is probably at the heart of the quarrel.
 * Alexandre Dumas, père,  Les Mohicans de Paris, Vol. II., Chapter XL (translation by M. Jackal); reported in Thomas Benfield Harbottle and Philip Hugh Dalbiac, Dictionary of Quotations (French and Italian) (1904), p. 30. Alternately reported as Cherchez la femme ("Look for the woman").


 * Chien qui aboie ne mord pas.
 * Barking dogs seldom bite.
 * Meaning: People who make the most or the loudest threats are the least likely to take action.
 * Source for meaning:
 * Source:


 * Choisissez votre femme par l'oreille bien plus que par les yeux.
 * Choose a wife rather by your ear than your eye.


 * Comme on fait son lit, on se couche.
 * As you make your bed, so you must lie.
 * "You must put up with the unpleasant results of a foolish action or decision."


 * Comparaison n'est pas raison.
 * Comparisons are odious.
 * Meaning: "People and things should be judged on the individual qualities they possess, rather than by comparing one with another."
 * Source for meaning of
 * Source:


 * C'est dans le besoin qu'on reconnaît ses vrais amis.
 * A friend in need is a friend indeed.
 * Source:


 * Ce n'est pas aux vieux singes qu'on apprend à faire des grimaces.
 * You can't teach an old dog new tricks.
 * Source:


 * Coffre ouvert, rend le saint pervers.
 * A nice wife and a back door oft make a rich man poor.
 * "Call your Husband Cuckold in Jest and he'll ne'er suspect you."
 * Thomas Fuller, Gnomologia (1732)


 * Coucher de poule et lever de corbeau écartent l'homme du tombeau.
 * Early to bed and early to rise makes a man healthy, wealthy, and wise.
 * "A lifestyle that involves neither staying up late nor sleeping late is good for body and mind and leads to financial success."
 * Source for meaning of
 * Source:


 * Courte priére pénètre les cieux .
 * Short prayers reach heaven.

D

 * De l'abondance du coeur la bouche parle.
 * English equivalent: Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh.


 * D'un costé Dieu poingt, de l'autre il vingt. (old French)
 * God who gives the wound gives the salve.
 * "What makes a problem a problem is not that a large amount of search is required for its solution, but that a large amount would be required if a requisite level of intelligence were not applied."
 * Allen Newell and Herbert Simon, (1975) Computer Science as Empirical Inquiry: Symbols and Search. Turing Award Lecture. p. 122


 * Dans le doute, abstiens-toi.
 * When in doubt, leave it out.
 * Meaning: "If you are unsure what to do, it is best to do nothing at all."
 * Source for meaning of


 * De la mesure dont nous mesurons les autres nous serons mesurés.
 * Whatever measure you deal out to others will be dealt back to you.


 * De mauvais grain jamais bon pain.
 * A golden bit does not make the horse any better.
 * "To those who are given to virtue, the boast of titles is wholly alien and distasteful."
 * Petrarch, “On the Various Academic Titles,” De remediis utriusque fortunae, C. Rawski, trans. (1967), p. 73


 * De qui je me fie Dieu me garde.
 * A man's worst enemies are often those of his own house.
 * "I wish to persuade the reader that, whatever the arguments may be, reason lays no embargo upon happiness; nay, more, I am persuaded that those who quite sincerely attribute their sorrows to their views about the universe are putting the cart before the horse: the truth is that they are unhappy for some reason of which they are not aware, and this unhappiness leads them to dwell upon the less agreeable characteristics of the world in which they live."
 * Bertrand Russell, The Conquest of Happiness (1930)


 * De tout s'avise à qui pain faut.


 * Deux ancres sont bonnes au navire.
 * Good riding at two anchors, men have told, for if the one fails, the other may hold.


 * Diviser pour régner.
 * Divide and conquer.
 * Meaning: "The best way to conquer or control a group of people is by encouraging them to fight among themselves rather than allowing them to unite in opposition to the ruling authority."
 * Source for meaning of


 * Don d'ennemi c'est malencontreux.
 * This advice has its root in the story of the Trojan Horse, the treacherous subterfuge by which the Greeks finally overcame their trojan adversaries at the end of the Trojan War.
 * Beware of Greeks bearing gifts.
 * Meaning: "Do not trust gifts or favors if they come from an enemy."
 * Source for meaning:


 * Donnant donnant.
 * You don't get nothing for nothing.
 * Meaning: "Everything has to be paid for, directly or indirectly, in money or in kind."
 * Source for meaning of


 * Donner un oeuf pour avoir une fève.

E

 * En peu d'heure Dieu labeure
 * God works in moments
 * Meaning: "Grand moments" are significantly important
 * Meaning: His work is soon done
 * Meaning: His work is soon done


 * En toute chose il faut considérer la fin.
 * Whatever you do, act wisely, and consider the end.


 * Entre l'arbre et l'écorce il ne faut pas mettre le doigt.
 * "Don't go between the tree and the bark."
 * Meaning: Do not interfere when two parts are having an argument.


 * Envie est toujours en vie.
 * Envy takes no holiday.

F

 * Faire d'une mouche un éléphant.
 * Don't make a mountain out of a molehill.


 * Faire le pas plus long que la jambe.
 * Don't have too many irons in the fire.
 * "Every man naturally persuades himself that he can keep his resolutions."
 * Samuel Johnson, Prayers and Meditations, (1785).


 * Faire un cygne d'un oison.
 * Every man thinks his own geese swans.
 * "This proverb imitates that an inbred Philauty runs through the whole Race of Flefh and Blood. It blinds the Underftanding, perverts the Judgment and depraves the Reafon of the Diftinguishers of Truth and Falfity."
 * Divers Proverbs, Nathan Bailey, 1721


 * Fais comme je dis, non comme j'agis.
 * Preachers say: Do as I say, not as I do.
 * "It bears no reason that others should show greater love to me, than I have showed them."
 * John Locke, Second Tract of Government (1662)


 * Fais ce que tu peux, si tu ne peux faire ce que tu veux.
 * Do as you may, if you can't do as you could.


 * Faute avouée est à moitié pardonnée.
 * A fault confessed is a half redressed.


 * Faute de mieux le roi couche avec sa femme.
 * Gnaw the bone which is fallen to thy lot.


 * Femme bonne vaut une couronne.
 * A cheerful wife is the spice of life.


 * Ferveur de novice ne dure pas.
 * New brooms sweep clean.


 * Folle est la brebis qui au loup se confesse.
 * It's a foolish sheep that makes the wolf his confessor.
 * How can we expect others to keep our secrets if we cannot keep them ourselves?
 * François de La Rochefoucauld, Reflections; or Sentences and Moral Maxims (1665–1678)


 * Fuis le plaisir qui amène repentir.
 * Avoid the pleasure which will bite tomorrow.

G

 * Gardez-vous des faux prophètes.
 * Beware of the false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing, and inwardly are ravening wolves.


 * Grand bruit, petite toison, dit celui qui tond le cochon.
 * English equivalent: Great cry and little wool.


 * Gueux en selle galope à crever sa monture.
 * English equivalent: Set a beggar on horseback, and he'll ride to the Devil.

H

 * Hâtez-vous lentement.
 * English equivalentː Make haste slowly.
 * Nicolas Boileau-Despréaux, L’Art Poitiqueé, I., 171; reported in Thomas Benfield Harbottle and Philip Hugh Dalbiac, Dictionary of Quotations (French and Italian) (1904), p. 54.


 *  Heureux sont les enfants dont les pères sont damnés.
 * English equivalent: Happy is the child whose father went to the devil.

I

 * Il faut bien laisser le jeu quand il est beau.
 * English equivalent: Leave a jest when it pleases you best.


 * Il faut bonne mémoire après qu'on a menti .
 * A liar should have a good memory.
 * "Liars must remember the untruths they have told, to avoid contradicting themselves at some later date."
 * Source for meaning of
 * Qui ne sent point assez ferme de memoire, ne se doit pas mêler d'être menteur.
 * "Who is not sure of his memory should not attempt lying."
 * Michel de Montaigne, Of Liars, Book I, Chapter IX.


 * Il faut donner au diable son dû.
 * Give the devil his due.
 * "Bad conduct soils the finest ornament more than filth."
 * Plautus, Mostellaria, I. 3. 133.


 * Il faut casser le noyau pour en avoir l'amande.
 * He that would eat the kernel must crack the nut.
 * "Nothing is achieved without effort."
 * Source for meaning of


 * Il faut être matelot avant d’être capitaine.
 * Who has not served cannot command.
 * Source:


 * Il faut être deux pour danser le tango.
 * It takes two to tango.
 * "The reason that there are so few good conversationalists is that most people are thinking about what they are going to say and not about what the others are saying."
 * François de La Rochefoucauld, Réflexions diverses, IV: De la conversation. (1731)
 * Frenette, M. (2009). Il Faut Être Deux Pour Danser Le Tango, Michel Frenette.


 * Il faut laisser aller le monde comme il va.
 * We need to let the world go the way it is.
 * Let nature take its course/ There's two sides to every penny.
 * In Voltaire's "Le Monde Comme Il Va", the protagonist Babouk utters these words to a powerful magical being when questioned whether the world is nothing but bad and should be destroyed. It means to accept the way the world is and that no matter how corrupt or backward a society seems, there is always a nugget of beauty and wisdom that stems from each one.
 * Il faut laver son linge sale en famille.
 * Don't wash your dirty linen in public; It is an ill bird that fouls its own nest.
 * "Why wantonly proclaim one's own disgrace, or expose the faults or weaknesses of one's kindred or people?" "It is considered contemptible to defy the rule of solidarity by revealing facts harmful to the group one belongs to."
 * Napoleon, reported in Thomas Benfield Harbottle and Philip Hugh Dalbiac, Dictionary of Quotations (French and Italian) (1904), p. 61, referencing Balzac, Eugénie Grandet, p. 184.
 * Napoleon, reported in Thomas Benfield Harbottle and Philip Hugh Dalbiac, Dictionary of Quotations (French and Italian) (1904), p. 61, referencing Balzac, Eugénie Grandet, p. 184.
 * Napoleon, reported in Thomas Benfield Harbottle and Philip Hugh Dalbiac, Dictionary of Quotations (French and Italian) (1904), p. 61, referencing Balzac, Eugénie Grandet, p. 184.


 * Il faut manger pour vivre, et non pas vivre pour manger.
 * Gluttony kills more than the sword.
 * Molière, L'Avare, Act III., Scene V (translated by Valére); reported in Thomas Benfield Harbottle and Philip Hugh Dalbiac, Dictionary of Quotations (French and Italian) (1904), p. 61.


 * Il faut prêcher d'exemple.
 * Lead by example.
 * "Example has more followers than reason."
 * Christian Nestell Bovee, Intuitions and Summaries of Thought (1862)
 * "Men trust their ears less than their eyes."
 * Herodotus The Histories
 * "Example is always more efficacious than precept."
 * Samuel Johnson, Rasselas (1759)


 * Il faut reculer pour mieux sauter.
 * One must step back to take a good leap.


 * Il faut réfléchir avant d'agir.
 * Look before you leap.
 * "The man who thinks before he acts, is most likely to act with discretion, and have no future cause to repent of his conduct; but he who acts blindly, without any foresight, will probably suffer for his rashness."


 * Il faut qu'une porte soit ouverte ou fermée.
 * A door must be either shut or open.
 * "When someone just writes 'f**k, f**k, f**k', we just fix it, laugh and move on. But the difficult social issues are the borderline cases — people who do some good work, but who are also a pain in the neck."
 * Jimmh Wales, As quoted in "Who knows?", The Guardian (26 October 2004)
 * Source:


 * Il faut battre le fer pendant qu'il est chaud.
 * Strike while the iron is hot.
 * Source:.


 * Il n'est pas chance qui ne retourne.
 * Opportunity knocks only once.


 * Il n'est pire sourd que celui qui ne veut pas entendre.
 * None so deaf as he that won't hear.
 * English equivalent: None so deaf as those who will not hear.


 * Il n'est rien tel qui balai neuf.
 * A new broome sweepeth cleane.
 * "We should never use an old tool when the extra labor in consequence costs more than a new one. Thousands wear out their lives and waste their time merely by the use of dull and unsuitable instruments."
 * "We often apply it to exchanges among servants, clerks, or any persons employed, whose service, at first, in any new place, is very good, both efficient and faithful; but very soon, when all the new circumstances have lost their novelty, and all their curiosity has ceased, they naturally fall into their former and habitual slackness."
 * Source for meaning:


 * Il n'est si bonne compagnie qu'on ne quitte.
 * English equivalent: The best of friends must part.
 * "Laughter is not at all a bad beginning for a friendship, and it is far the best ending for one."
 * Oscar Wilde, The Picture of Dorian Gray (1891), Ch. 1


 * Il n'est si riche festin, où il n'y ait quelqu'un qui mal dîne.


 * Il ne convient pas à fol qu'on lui rende cloche au col.
 * A tongue of a fool carves a piece of his heart to all that sit near him.


 * Il ne faut jamais quitter le certain pour l'incertain.
 * He that leaves certainty and sticks to chance, When fools pipe, he may dance.
 * "Be they wynners or loosers,…beggers should be no choosers."
 * John Heywood's Proverbs and Epigrams (1562 ed.)


 * Il ne faut pas brûler la chandelle par les deux bouts.
 * Don't burn the candles at both ends.


 * Il ne faut pas changer d'attelage au milieu d'un gué.
 * Don't change horses in midstream.
 * When in water it is ardous to mount and dismount. "Once you have embarked on a course of action or an undertaking, it is better not to change your tactics or methods along the way."


 * Il ne faut pas confondre vitesse et précipitation.
 * One must not confuse speed with haste.
 * English equivalent: More haste, less speed.


 * Il ne faut pas jeter les perles devant les poureaux.
 * Do not throw pearls before swine.


 * Il ne faut pas jouer avec le feu.
 * Do not play with edged tools.


 * Il ne faut point parler de corde dans la maison d'un pendu.
 * Name not a rope in his house who hanged himself.


 * Il n'ya a pas de secrets pour le temps.
 * English equivalent: There is nothing hidden that will not become public.


 * Il n'y a point d'église où le diable n'ait sa chapelle.
 * Where god has a church the devil will have his chapel.
 * "Very seldom does any good thing arise but there comes an ugly phantom of a caricature of it."
 * Source for meaning:
 * Source for proverb:


 * Il n'y a point d'homme necessaire.
 * No man is indispensable.


 * Il n'y a que la foi que sauve.
 * Faith is half the battle.
 * "The most honorable, as well as the safest course, is to rely entirely upon valour."
 * Livy, Ab Urbe Condita Libri


 * Il n'est pire aveugle que celui qui ne veut pas voir.
 * There are none so blind as they who will not see.
 * Source:


 * Il ne faut pas faire ces choses a moitié.
 * If a job is worth doing, it's worth doing well.


 * Il ne faut pas se fier aux apparences.
 * Appearances deceive.


 * Il ne faut pas mettre tous ses œufs dans le même panier.
 * Don't put all your eggs in one basket.
 * '"Spread your risks or investments so that if one enterprise fails you will not lose everything."
 * Source for meaning of
 * Source:


 * Il n'y a pas de fumée sans feu.
 * Where there's smoke, there's fire.
 * Source:


 * Il ne faut pas réveiller le chat qui dort.
 * Let sleeping dogs lie.
 * Source:


 * Il ne faut pas vendre la peau de l'ours avant de l'avoir tué.
 * Don't count your chickens before they're hatched.
 * Don't sell the bearskin before you've killed the bear.
 * Source:


 * Il tirerait de l'huile d'un mur.
 * Derive the oil of a wall.
 * All is fish that comes to the net.
 * Meaning: "Anything that comes along is accepted and turned to advantage."
 * Source for meaning of
 * {{cite book | last1 = Mawr | first = E.B. | year = 1885 | titl


 * Il vaut mieux suer que trembler.
 * Better to hold with the hound than run with the hare.
 * {{cite book | last1 = Strauss | first = Emanuel | edition = Abbreviated | year = 1998 | title = Concise Dictionary of European Proverbs | publisher = Routledge | page = 17 | pages = 504 | isbn =0415160502}}


 * Il vaut mieux plier que rompre.
 * Better bow than break.
 * Meaning: "It is better to make some confession, or pay a little deference to others, our neighbors, friends, acquaintances, and especially our superiors, rather than lose our credit or break friendship."
 * Source for meaning of {{cite book|last=Porter|first=William Henry|title=Proverbs: Arranged in Alphabetical Order ...|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=KA4oAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA46|year=1845|publisher=Munroe and Company|page=46}}
 * {{cite book|last=Ward|first=Caroline|title=National Proverbs in the Principal Languages of Europe|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=3FEWAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA20|year=1842|publisher=J.W. Parker|page=20}}


 * Il vaut mieux qu'on dise "il court-là", qu'"il gît ici".
 * He who fights and runs away may live to fight another day.
 * "It is wiser to withdraw from a situation that you cannot win than to go on fighting and lose – by a strategic retreat you can return to the battle or argument with renewed energy at a later date."
 * {{cite book|author=Martin H. Manser|title=The Facts on File Dictionary of Proverbs|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=fgaUQc8NbTYC&pg=PA123|year=2007|publisher=Infobase Publishing|isbn=978-0-8160-6673-5|page=123}}
 * {{cite book | last1 = Strauss | first = Emanuel | edition = Volume 2 | year = 1994 | title = Dictionary of European proverbs | publisher = Routledge | page = 702 | pages = 2200 | isbn =0415096243}}


 * Il y a serpent caché sous des fleurs.
 * English equivalent: Look before you leap, for snakes among sweet flowers do creep.
 * {{cite book|last1=von Düringsfield|first1=Ida||last2=von Düringsfield|first2=Otto|title= Sprichwörter der germanischen und romanischen Sprachen Vergleichend|url=https://books.google.se/books?id=dJdYAAAAcAAJ&pg=PA177&dq=Ne%27+fiori+cova+la+serpe.+sprichw%C3%B6rter&hl=sv&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiij5-pqu31AhUoQvEDHWZlAWsQ6AF6BAgCEAI#v=onepage&q=Ne'%20fiori%20cova%20la%20serpe.%20sprichw%C3%B6rter&f=false|year=1875|language= German|volume= ÏI|pages=177-178|chapter=315, Schlange}}


 * Il y a péril en la demeure.
 * English equivalent: There is danger in delay.
 * "Hesitation or procastination may lead to trouble or disaster."
 * {{cite book|author=Martin H. Manser|title=The Facts on File Dictionary of Proverbs|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=fgaUQc8NbTYC&pg=PA53|accessdate=10 August 2013|year=2007|publisher=Infobase Publishing|isbn=978-0-8160-6673-5|page=53}}
 * {{citation
 * author=L. C. Dorn
 * title=Recueil de Phrases Sentences & Proverbes français les plus usités et les plus communs à l'usage de la jeunesse Allemande, afin de lui Faciliter le langage Français, et pour habituer les les jeunes gens à s'exprimer correctement et à être à même, de traduire les différents idiotismes de leur propre langue dans ceux d'une langue étrangère, suivi d'un vocabulaire pour faciliter l'intelligence du texte
 * url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JMRDAAAAcAAJ&pg=PA87
 * year=1857
 * publisher=F. Knörr
 * pages=87}}


 * Il ya anguille sous rouche.
 * English equivalent: To smell a rat.
 * {{cite book|author=Isaac Marcus Calisch|title=Proverbes et locutions familières en quatre langues: (français-anglais-allemand-hollandais) : avec une liste alphabétique pour chaque langue séparément|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ynRWAAAAcAAJ&pg=PA110|year=1876|publisher=Belinfante|page=110}}

J

 * Jamais deux sans trois.
 * When it rains it pours.


 * Jamais paresseux n'eut grande écuelle.
 * Poverty is the reward of idleness.


 * Je crains l'homme d'un seul livre.
 * Fear the man of one book.
 * "To know a person's religion we need not listen to his profession of faith but must find his brand of intolerance."
 * Eric Hoffer, The Passionate State Of Mind, and Other Aphorisms (1955)


 * Jamais honteux n'eut belle amie.
 * Faint heart never won fair lady.
 * "Our lack of confidence is not the result of difficulty. The difficulty comes from our lack of confidence."
 * Seneca the Younger, Epistulae morales ad Lucilium (65)


 * Jeter de l'huile sur le feu.
 * To add fuel to the fire.


 * Jeunneuse pauresse, viellise pouilleuse.
 * Diligent youth makes easy age.


 * Juge hâtif est périlleux.
 * Quick judgments are dangerous.
 * Hasty judgment leads to repentance.
 * Meaning: A quick evaluation is a terrible evaluation.


 * Juge l'oiseau à la plume et au chant, et au parler l'homme bon ou méchant.
 * English equivalent: The bird is known by his note, the man by his words.

L

 * L'herbe est toujours plus verte dans le pré du voisin.
 * English equivalent: The grass is always greener on the far side of the hill.


 * L'histoire se répète.
 * English equivalent: History repeats itself.


 * L'opinio est la reine du monde.
 * English equivalent: Opinion is the queen of the world.


 * La barbe ne fait pas le philosophe.
 * English equivalent: It is not the beard that makes the philosopher.


 * La caque sent toujours le hareng.
 * A herring barrel will always smell of herring.
 * English equivalent: What's bred in the bone will come out in the flesh.


 * Le chemin le plus long est quelquefois le plus court.
 * English equivalent: He that leaves the highway to cut short, commonly goes about.


 * Le client a toujours raison.
 * English equivalent: The customer is always right.


 * Le meilleur est toujours le moins cher.
 * English equivalent: The best goods are cheapest in the end.


 * Le mieux est l'ennemi du bien.
 * English equivalent: The good is the enemy of the best.


 * La nécessité est la mère des inventions.
 * English equivalent: Necessity is the mother of invention.


 * L'argent est fait pour rouler.
 * Money is there to be spent.


 * L'art est de cacher l'art.
 * English equivalent: The best art conceals art.


 * L'art est long, la vie est courte.
 * English equivalent: Life is short, and art long.


 * L'attaque est la meilleure défence.
 * The best defence is a good offense.
 * "You are more likely to win if you take the initiative and make an attack rather than preparing to defend yourself."
 * Source for meaning:


 * L'envieux maigrit de l'embonpoint des autres.
 * English equivalent: Envy is its own torturer.


 * La belle plume fait le bel oiseau.
 * Fine feathers make fine birds.


 * La borne sied trèg bien entre les champs de deux frères.
 * English equivalentː A hedge between keeps friends green.


 * La confiance appelle la confiance.
 * Confidence begets confidence.


 * La femme du cordonnier est toujours mal chaussée.
 * The cobbler's wife is the worst shod.
 * "Working hard for others one may neglect one's own needs or the needs of those closest to him."
 * Source for proverbs and meaning:


 * La fortune ne fait pas le bonheur.
 * Wealth rarely brings happiness.
 * "The rich guys buy a football team, the poor guys buy a football. It's all relative."
 * Martina Navratilova, Martina (1985).


 * La nuit tous les chats sont gris.
 * At night all cats are grey.


 * La parole a été donnée à l'homme pour déguiser sa pensée.
 * Men talk only to conceal the mind.
 * Source:


 * La parole s'enfuit, et l'écriture demeure.
 * Paper is forbearing.


 * La punition boite, mais elle arrive.
 * Punishment is lame but it comes.


 * La raison du plus fort est toujours la meilleure.
 * Might is always right.
 * Jean de La Fontaine, Fables, I., 10, "Le Loup et L'Agneau"; reported in Thomas Benfield Harbottle and Philip Hugh Dalbiac, Dictionary of Quotations (French and Italian) (1904), p. 116.


 * La répétition est la mère de la mémoire.
 * Repetition is the mother of memory.
 * "Men more frequently require to be reminded than informed."
 * Samuel Johnson, The Rambler (1750)


 * La seconde pensée est la meilleure.
 * Second thoughts are best.


 * La variété plaît.
 * Variety is the spice of life.
 * Source:


 * La vérité est dans le vin.
 * In wine there is truth.
 * "Alcohol consumed removes the inhibition against telling the truth that occasionally one would like to keep secret."


 * La vérité se dit en badinant.
 * Many a true words are spoken in jest.
 * "A joke's a very serious thing."
 * Charles Churchill, The Ghost (1763), book iv, line 1386


 * La parole est l'ombre du fait.
 * Deeds are fruits, words are but leaves.
 * "Mere words have no value unless they are followed by positive action."
 * Source for meaning of
 * Source for meaning of


 * La patience est la vertu du sage.
 * English equivalent: Patience is a virtue, and a little will not hurt you.


 * Langue muette n'est jamais battue.
 * Least said, soonest mended.
 * "In private animosities and verbal contentions, where angry passions are apt to rise, and irritating, if not profane expressions are often made use of, the least said, the better in general. By multiplying words, cases often grow worse instead of better."
 * Source for meaning of


 * L'essentiel du courage c'est la prudence.
 * Discretion is the better part of valor.
 * "Keep your friends close, your enemies closer."
 * Mario Puzo and Francis Ford Coppola, The Godfather Part II (1974). This has been variously attributed to Sun Tzu, Niccolò Machiavelli, or Petrarch, but no published sources predating the film have yet been found.


 * Le fait juge l'homme.
 * The proof of the pudding is in the eating.
 * "The taste, not the looks, must constitute the criterion. It may be like, many other things, beautiful externally but within devoid of every excellence."
 * Source for proverb:
 * Source for proverb:


 * Le mal appelle le mal.
 * Deep calls to deep.
 * "The more of the context of a problem that a scientist can comprehend, the greater are his chances of finding a truly adequate solution."
 * Russell L. Ackoff, The development of operations research as a science (1956)


 * Le meilleur n'en vaut rien.
 * Bad is the best choice.
 * "I always search good in bad. l also search bad in good."
 * Vennu Malesh, It's My Life (2012)


 * Le miel est doux, mais l'abeille pique.
 * He that will not endure the bitter, will not live to see the sweet.
 * "I've failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed."
 * Michael Jordan, As quoted in Nike Culture : The Sign of the Swoosh (1998), by Robert Goldman and Stephen Papson, p. 49


 * Les fous inventent les modes, et les sages les suivent.
 * A fool may give a wise man counsel.
 * "Even as the fingers of the two hands are equal, so are human beings equal to one another. No one has any right, nor any preference to claim over another. You are brothers."
 * Muhammad, The Last Sermon of Muhammad delivered on the Ninth Day of Dhul Hijjah 10 A.H (c. 630 AD)


 * Le plus grand malheur ou bonheur de l'homme est une femme.
 * English equivalents: Choose a wife rather by your ear than your eye.
 * Use great prudence and circumspection, in choosing thy wife, for from thence will spring all thy future good or evil; and it is an action of life like unto a stratagem of war, wherein a man can err but once.
 * William Cecil, 1st Baron Burghley, Certain Precepts Or Directions for the Well-Ordering and Carriage of a Man's Life (c. 1584, first published 1617).


 * La pomme ne tombe jamais loin de l'arbre.
 * The apple does not fall far from the tree.
 * "Children observe daily and — in their behaviour — often follow the example of their parents."
 * Source for proverbs and meaning:


 * Le remède est pire que le mal.
 * The remedy is often worse than the disease; Burn not your house to rid it off the mouse.
 * "Action taken to put something right is often more unpleasant or damaging than the original problem."


 * Le temps et l'usage rendent l'homme sage.
 * Books know more than years.
 * Source:


 * Le trop de précautions ne nuit jamais.
 * Better safe than sorry.


 * Les absents ont toujours tort.
 * The absent are always in the wrong.
 * "One of the annoying things about believing in free will and individual responsibility is the difficulty of finding somebody to blame your problems on. And when you do find somebody, it's remarkable how often his picture turns up on your driver's license."
 * Patrick Jake O'Rourke Rolling Stone (30 November 1989)
 * "Capitalism is the exploitation of man by man. Yes? Well socialism is exactly the reverse."
 * Len Deighton, quoting an anonymous Czechoslovakian joke in the 1960s, in Funeral in Berlin (1964), p. 145.
 * Philippe Néricault Destouches, L’Obstacle Imprévu, Act I., Scene VI (translation by Nérine); alternately reported as "L’absent a toujours tort" ("The absent are always in the wrong"), Jean Jacques Rousseau, Emile, Livre IV; reported in Thomas Benfield Harbottle and Philip Hugh Dalbiac, Dictionary of Quotations (French and Italian) (1904), p. 140.


 * Les cordonniers sont les plus mal chaussés.
 * The shoemaker goes barefoot.
 * "Working hard for others one may neglect one's own needs or the needs of those closest to him."


 * Les goûts et les couleurs ne se discutent pas.
 * There's no accounting for tastes; Different strokes suit different folks.
 * "Criticism, whatever may be its pretensions, never does more than to define the impression which is made upon it at a certain moment by a work wherein the writer himself noted the impression of the world."
 * James Branch Cabell, in The Certain Hour (1916).


 * Les grands diseurs ne sont pas les grands faiseurs.
 * Big talkers are not big doers.
 * English equivalentː Great talkers are little doers.
 * "Well done is better than well said."
 * Benjamin Franklin, Poor Richard's Almanack (1737)


 * Les soucis font blanchir les cheveux de bonne heure.
 * Fretting cares make grey hairs.
 * Source for proverb:


 * L'enfer est pavé de bonnes intentions.
 * English equivalent: The road to Hell is paved with good intentions.


 * L'envie s'attache à la gloire.
 * Envy always shooteth at a high mark.


 * L'habit ne fait pas le moine.
 * You can't judge a book by its cover.
 * Ndedi-Penda, P. (2003). L'habit ne fait pas le moine, Publications Galaxie.


 * L'histoire se répéte.
 * Something that has happened once can happen again.


 * L'homme propose, et Dieu dispose.
 * Man proposes, God disposes; Everything in its season.
 * "Plans are insulted destinies. I don't have plans, I only have goals."
 * Ash Chandler, Freudian Slip, Mumbai Mirror Buzz, April 2006.
 * Source:


 * L'honnêteté est la meilleure politique.
 * Honesty is the best policy.
 * "Being honest or telling the truth is always the wisest course of action."
 * Source for meaning of


 * Loin des yeux, près du coeur.
 * English equivalent: Absence makes the heart grow fonder.


 * L'on passe la haie par où elle est plus basse.
 * Men leap over where the hedge is lower.


 * L'on ne saurait écorcher une pierre.
 * English equivalent: You cannot get blood from a stone.


 * L'or force le verrou.
 * A golden key opens any gate but that of heaven.


 * Le chien aboit, la caravane passe.
 * The dogs bark, but the caravan passes on.


 * La fortune sourit aux audacieux.
 * Fortune favours the brave.
 * "Those who act boldly or courageously are most likely to succeed."
 * Source for meaning:
 * Source:


 * Le fil ténu casse.
 * A chain is only as strong as its weakest link.
 * Meaning: "A weak part or member will affect the success or effectiveness of the whole."
 * Source for meaning of


 * L'espoir fait vivre.
 * Where there's life, there's hope.


 * Les habitudes ont la vie dure.
 * Old habits die hard.
 * Source: Revue internationale de philosophie Source: v. 57 223--226.


 * Les bons comptes font les bons amis.
 * Short reckonings make long friends.


 * Le monde appartient à ceux qui se lèvent tôt.
 * Early to bed and early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise.


 * Les apparences sont trompeuses.
 * All that glitters is not gold.
 * Meaning: An attractive appearance may be deceptive. It may cover or hide a much less favourable content.
 * Source for meaning:
 * Source:


 * Les grands voleurs pendent les petits.
 * Men are like fish, the big ones devour the small.
 * "A weak person/group/community/country can be an easy prey to an immoral, powerful one."
 * Source for meaning:
 * Source for meaning:


 * Les rats quittent le navire qui coule.
 * Rats desert a sinking ship.


 * La nuit porte conseil.
 * Night brings counsel.


 * La parole est d'argent, mais le silence est d'or.
 * Speech is silver, Silence is golden.
 * Source:


 * Loin des yeux, loin du cœur.
 * Out of sight, out of mind.
 * Source:


 * Les murs ont des oreilles.
 * Walls have ears.
 * "What you say may be overheard; used as a warning."
 * Source:
 * Source:


 * Les plaisanteries les plus courtes sont les meilleures.
 * Brevity is the soul of wit.
 * Source:


 * Les premiers seront les derniers.
 * The last will be first, and the first last.


 * Les volontés sont libres.
 * His own desire leads every man.

M

 * Mettre la charrue devant les bœufs.
 * Don't put the cart before the horse.
 * "It is important to do things in the right or natural order."


 * Même le divine Homère sommeille quelquefois.
 * English equivalent: Even Homer sometimes nods.


 * Mieux vaut que entre fou avec tous que sage tout seul.
 * Better foolish by all than wise by yourself.


 * Mieux vaut savoir que richesse.
 * A good mind possess a kingdom.


 * Mieux vaut peu que rien.
 * Better an egg today than a hen tomorrow.


 * Mieux vaut tenir que courir.
 * A bird in hand is worth two in a bush.
 * "Something you have for certain now is of more value than something better you may get, especially if you risk losing what you have in order to get it."
 * Source for meaning of
 * Source:


 * Mieux vaut être seul que mal accompagné.
 * Better be alone than in bad company.
 * Source:


 * Mieux vaut faire que dire.
 * Well done is better than well said.
 * Source:


 * Mieux vaut prévenir que guérir.
 * An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.
 * Source:


 * Mieux vaut un présent que deux futurs.
 * One today is worth two tomorrows.


 * Mieux vaut un sage ennemi qu'un sot ami.
 * English equivalent: A wise enemy is better than a foolish friend.


 * Monter sur ses grands chevaux.
 * English equivalent: Riding the high horse.

N

 * Nature passe nourriture, et nourriture survainc nature.
 * Nature is beyond all teaching.


 * Ne meurs cheval, herbe te vient.
 * While the grass grows the steed starves.
 * Meaning: Dreams or expectations may be realized too late.


 * Ne te mêle pas des affaires d'autrui.
 * Give neither salt nor counsel till you are asked for it.


 * Ne touchez pas aux blessures guéries.
 * It is not wise to open old wounds.


 * La nuit porte conseil.
 * The night brings counsel.
 * Take counsel of one's pillow.
 * Note: Specified as a French proverb in the source.


 * Noblesse oblige.
 * Nobility forces.
 * Meaning: With great resources comes great responsibility.
 * Applegate, S. (2009). Noblesse Oblige: Spending Your Life on What Matters Most, Tate Pub & Enterprises Llc.

O

 * Oignez vilain, il vous poindra. Poignez vilain, il vous oindra.
 * Anoint a villain, he will stab you; stab a villain, he will anoint you (oindre and poindre being outdated verbs)
 * François Rabelais, Gargantua, I., 32; reported in Thomas Benfield Harbottle and Philip Hugh Dalbiac, Dictionary of Quotations (French and Italian) (1904), p. 166.


 * On a que ce que l'on mérite.
 * What goes around comes around.


 * On ne tue pas le loup parce qu'il est gris, mais parce qu'il a dévoré la brebis.
 * The sin is not in the sinning, but in the being found out.


 * On naît poète, on devient orateur.
 * Poets are born, but orators are trained.


 * On n'est jamais si bien servi que par soi-même.
 * If you want something done right, do it yourself.
 * Charles-Guillaume Étienne, Bruïs et Palaprat, Sc. II. — (translation by Palaprat); reported in Thomas Benfield Harbottle and Philip Hugh Dalbiac, Dictionary of Quotations (French and Italian) (1904), p. 169.


 * On revient toujours à ses premières amours.
 * True love never rusts.
 * Charles-Guillaume Étienne, Joconde, Act III., Scene I (translation by Joconde); reported in Thomas Benfield Harbottle and Philip Hugh Dalbiac, Dictionary of Quotations (French and Italian) (1904), p. 172.


 * On ne change pas une équipe qui gagne.
 * If it ain't broke, don't fix it.
 * Source:


 * On ne fait pas boire un âne qui n'a pas soif.
 * You can lead a horse to water but you can't make it drink.
 * Source:


 * On ne jette des pierres qu'a l'arbre chargé de fruits.
 * No enemies is a sign fortune forgotten you.


 * On ne peut aider qui ne veut point écouter.
 * He that will not be counseled cannot be helped.


 * On ne prend pas les oiseaux à la tartelle.
 * Deal gently with the bird you mean to catch.


 * On prend plus de mouches avec du miel qu'avec du vinaigre.
 * You can catch more flies with a drop of honey than with a barrel of vinegar.


 * Oy, voy te tas, A tu veux vivre in paix.
 * Latin equivalent: Hear, see, be silent, if you wish to live (in peace).

P

 * Par savoir vient avoir.
 * Learning is the eye of the mind.


 * Patience et longueur de temps font plus que force ni que rage.
 * English equivalent. He that can have patience can have what he will.


 * Patience passe science.
 * An ounce of patience is worth a pound of brains.


 * Pendant le faveur de la fortune, il faut se préparer à sa défaveur.
 * If fortune favours, beware of being exalted; if fortune thunders, beware of being overwhelmed.


 * Personne ne peut être juge dans sa propre cause.
 * No one can be the judge in his own case.


 * Petit poisson deviendra grand.
 * The little fish will grow big.
 * Jean de La Fontaine, "Le petit Poisson et le Pêcheur", Fables, V., 3; reported in Thomas pogield Harbottle and Philip Hugh Dalbiac, Dictionary of Quotations (French and Italian) (1904), p. 177.


 * Pierre qui roule n'amasse pas mousse.
 * A rolling stone gathers no moss.
 * "There are a Set of People in the World who before they are well fettled in one Habitation, remove to another: fuch Perfons fall under the Doom of this Proverb."
 * Source for meaning of Divers Proverbs, Nathan Bailey, 1721


 * Plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose.
 * Variant: Plus ça change, plus c'est pareil.
 * The more things change, the more they stay the same.
 * "You look at the people around you, the street you stand on, the visible air you breathe, and predict more of the same. To hell with more – I want better."
 * Ray Bradbury, Beyond 1984: The People Machines. (1979)
 * An epigram by Jean-Baptiste Alphonse Karr in the January 1849 issue of his journal Les Guêpes ("The Wasps").


 * Point d’argent, point de Suisse.
 * No money, no Swiss.


 * Pour estimer le doux, il faut goûter de l'amer.
 * To taste the sweet, you must taste the bitter.
 * No pain, no gain; Nothing ventured, nothing gained.
 * Meaning: Where there is no adversity of some sort there is seldom anything to win; No or little adversity is a sign that fortune has forgotten you.


 * Pour un de perdu, deux de retrouvés.
 * When one door closes another opens.
 * Meaning: "When baffled in one direction a man of energy will not despair, but will find another way to his object."
 * Source for meaning of


 * Prudence est la mère de súreté.
 * Diffidence is the right eye of prudence.
 * Meaning: Diffidently pondering something will often lead to a sensible solution.

Q

 * Quand mes amis me prient il n'y a point de demain.
 * English equivalent: When thy friend asks, let there be no to-morrow.


 * Quand on dîne avec le diable, il faut se munir d'une longue cuiller.
 * English equivalent: He who sups with the devil must use a long spoon.


 * Quand on habite une maison de verre, il ne faut pas lancer des pierres.
 * English equivalentː People who live in glass houses shouldn't throw stones.


 * Quand on n'a pas ce que l'on aime, il faut aimer ce que l'on a.
 * If we have not the thing we love, then must we love the thing we have.
 * Bussy Rabutin, Lettre à Mme. de Sivigni (23 May, 1667); variant "n'a pas ce qu'on aime", by Thomas Corneille, L'lnconnu, Nouveau Prologue, Scene II (translation by Crispin); both reported in Thomas Benfield Harbottle and Philip Hugh Dalbiac, Dictionary of Quotations (French and Italian) (1904), p. 188.


 * Quand on n'a pas de tête, il faut avoir des jambes.
 * Who falls short in the head must be long in the heels.


 * Quand on n'avance pas, on recule.
 * He who does not advance goes backwards.


 * Que trebuche et ne tombe pas avancer son chemin.
 * He that stumbles and falls not, mends his pace.
 * "If you possess the ability to learn from your mistakes, then failure is literally impossible, because each rejection brings you closer to perfection."
 * Neil Strauss, Rules of the Game (2007)


 * 'Qui ne dit mot, consent.
 * English equivalent: Silence gives consent.


 * Qui a age, doit être sage.
 * Reason does not come before years.
 * Meaning: Wisdom acquired by adversity makes us reasonable as we get older.


 * Qui a bu, boira.
 * Once a drunkard always a drunkard; Once a thief always a thief.


 * Qui a froid souffle le feu.
 * English equivalent: Fuel without fire is soon quenched.
 * "You will find rest from vain fancies if you perform every act in life as though it were your last."
 * Marcus Aurelius, 'Meditations'' (c. 121–180 AD)
 * "Nothing is so hateful to the philistine as the 'dreams of his youth.' ... For what appeared to him in his dreams was the voice of the spirit, calling him once, as it does everyone. It is of this that youth always reminds him, eternally and ominously. That is why he is antagonistic toward youth.
 * Walter Benjamin, "Experience" (1913) as translated by L. Spencer and S. Jost, in Walter Benjamin: Selected Writings, Vol. 1 (1996), pp. 4-5


 * Qui a tête de cire ne doit pas s'approcher du feu.
 * He who has a wax head must not go near the fire.
 * He that hath a head of wax must not walk in the sun.
 * Meaning: Know your limitations and weaknesses; Don't do something that is sure to damage you.


 * Qui aime Dieu est sûr en tout lieu.
 * He who serves God has a good master.
 * "The greatest weakness of all weaknesses is to fear too much to appear weak."
 * Jacques-Bénigne Bossuet, Politique Tirée de l'Écriture Sainte (Politics Drawn from the Very Words of Holy Scripture) (1679 - published 1709).


 * Que bien aime, tard oublie.
 * True love never grows old.


 * Qui court deux lièvres à la fois, n'en prend aucun.
 * You must not run after two hares at the same time.
 * Meaning: "Concentrate on one thing at a time or you will achieve nothing. - Trying to do two or more things at a time, when even one on its own needs full effort, means that none of them will be accomplished properly."
 * Source for meaning of


 * Qui écoute aux portes, entend souvent sa propre honte.
 * Eavesdroppers hear no good of themselves.
 * Meaning: "People who eavesdrop on the conversations of others risk hearing unfavorable comments about themselves; used as a warning or reprimand."
 * Source for meaning of


 * Qui m'aime aime mon chien.
 * Love me, love my dog.
 * Who loves me, loves my dog.
 * Compare in Latin: Qui me amat, amat et canem meum.
 * Saint Bernard of Clairvaux (1090-1153), French abbot (and who is not the St Bernard for whom that breed of dog is named, that's Bernard of Menthon). Quoted by Nigel Rees in Why Do We Say? (1987).


 * Qui mal commence, mal achève.
 * A bad beginning makes a bad ending.
 * Meaning: "It is as impossible that a system radically erroneous, once commenced, should end well, as it is that a mathematical problem, commenced wrong, should come out right."
 * Source for meaning:


 * Qui ne fait pas quand póte, nu face cand vrea.
 * He that will not when he may, when he will he may have nay.
 * Meaning: "Take advantage of an opportunity when it presents itself, even if you do not want or need it at the time, because it may no longer be available when you do."
 * Source for meaning of English equivalent:


 * Qui ne risque rien n'a rien.
 * Who risks nothing, gets nothing.
 * Nothing ventured, nothing gained.
 * Meaning: It is necessary to take risks in order to achieve something.


 * Qui ne sait obéir, ne sait commander.
 * Who has not served cannot command.
 * Meaning: One must have been controlled in the same situation one wishes to properly control others.


 * Qui parle trop, manque souvent.
 * Least said, soonest mended.
 * Meaning: "In private animosities and verbal contentions, where angry passions are apt to rise, and irritating, if not profane expressions are often made use of, as we sometimes see to be the case, not only among neighbors, but in families, between husbands and wives, or parents and children, or the children themselves and other members of the household, - the least said, the better in general. By multiplying words, cases often grow worse instead of better."
 * Source for meaning of


 * Qui parle trop, personne ne l'écoute.
 * Who talks too much, nobody listens to.
 * Length begets loathing.
 * Meaning: "Nobody likes a long-winded speaker or writer."
 * Source for meaning of


 * Quj s'attend aux souliers d un mort court que de marcher longtemps nu pieds.
 * English equivalent: Don't wait for dead mens shoes.


 * Qui s'attend à l'accueil d'autrui, a souvent mal dîné.
 * English equivalent: He that waits on another man's trencher, makes many a late dinner.


 * Qui s'attend à l'ecuelle d'autrui est sujet å mal dîner (a souvent mauvais dîner) (dîne souvent par coeur).
 * English equivalent: He that waits on another man's trencher, makes many a late dinner.


 * Qui se détourne évite le danger.
 * "Better put an end to a troublesome business than to be always vex'd with it."


 * Qui se resemble, s'assemble.
 * Like will to like.
 * "Every man loves well what is like to himself."


 * Qui se sent - se mouche.
 * English equivalent: If the shoe fits, wear it.
 * "No man likes to have his intelligence or good faith questioned, especially if he has doubts about it himself."
 * Henry Brooks Adams, Mont Saint Michel and Chartres (1904)


 * Qui sème peu, peu récolte.
 * Sow thin, shear thin.
 * "Rest is a necessity, not an objective. It is better to aim the spear at the moon and strike the eagle, than to aim at the eagle and strike only a rock."
 * Jim Rohn, The Five Major Pieces To The LIfe Puzzle (1991)


 * Qui s'excuse, s'accuse.
 * Who makes excuses, himself accuses; or He who excuses himself accuses himself.
 * Gabriel Meurier, Trésor des Sentences; reported in Thomas Benfield Harbottle and Philip Hugh Dalbiac, Dictionary of Quotations (French and Italian) (1904), p. 196.


 * Qui trop embrasse mal étreint.
 * Grasp all, lose all.
 * Source:


 * Qui se croit sage est un grand fou.
 * The first chapter of fools is to think themselves wise.


 * Qui se fait brebis, le loup le mange.
 * He that makes himself an ass must not take it ill if men ride him.
 * Meaning: Other people will abuse you, if you let them.


 * Qui sème le vent, récolte la tempête.
 * Translation 1: As you sow, so you shall reap.
 * Translation 2: He who sows the wind shall reap the storm.
 * Meaning: Your actions all have consequences.
 * Source:


 * Qui va doucement, va loin.
 * English equivalent: By perserverance the snail reached the arc.


 * Qui veut plaire à tout le monde doit se lever de bonne heure.
 * He had need rise early who would please everybody.
 * Meaning: "It is impossible to do something that everybody will approve of."
 * Source for meaning of


 * Qui vole un œuf vole un bœuf.
 * He who steals an egg will steal an ox.
 * In for a penny, in for a pound.
 * Meaning a person that steals something little/done something bad/ will probably end up steeling more valuable things/as a criminal.
 * Bulman, F. (1998). Dictionnaire Des Proverbes Anglais-Francais, Francais-Anglais, Presses de l'Université Laval.

R

 * Rendre le bien pour le mal.
 * If life gives you lemons, make lemonade.
 * Meaning: Make something good out of bad things that has happened to you.


 * Rejeter le bon et le mauvais.
 * To reject the good with the bad.
 * Throw out the baby with the bath (water).
 * Meaning: Do not reject an idea entirely because parts of it are bad; Someone who is absolutely right about parts of an idea, is surprisingly often wrong about another part of it.
 * Source for meaning of


 * Revenons à nos moutons.
 * Let us get back to our sheep.
 * Meaning: Let's get back to what we were saying, doing.
 * La Farce de maître Pierre Pathelin, Act III., scene IV. (Translation by Le Juge; Fournier's ed., 1872). Alternately reported as "Retournons à nos moutons", François Rabelais, Pantagruel, III., 34; "Revenons à nos moutons", Vincent Voiture, Epître à Mme. de Bambouillet, (Ed. Roux, p. 579.); Voltaire, Les Honnétetés Littéraires, Vol. VIII., p. 912; "Revenons a nos bouteilles"; Montaigne, Essais, II., 2, p. 17; "Revenons a nos soupers"; Jean Jacques Rousseau, La Nouvelle Heloïse, Pt. II, Lettre XVII. All are reported in Thomas Benfield Harbottle and Philip Hugh Dalbiac, Dictionary of Quotations (French and Italian) (1904), p. 200.


 * Rome ne s'est pas faite en un jour.
 * English equivalent: Rome wasn't built in a day.

S

 * Sans deniers Georges ne chante.
 * You can't get something for nothing.


 * Sans tentation, il n'y a point de victoire.
 * Where there is no temptation there is no glory.
 * Without temptation there is no victory.
 * Meaning: Not being tempted is a sign that fortune has forgotten you.


 * Santé passe richesse.
 * Good health is above wealth.
 * "What shall it profit a man if he gains the whole world-and loses his health?"
 * Dale Carnegie, How to Stop Worrying and Start Living (1948)


 * Se couper le nez pour faire dépit à son visage.
 * English equivalent: He cut off his nose to spite his face.
 * "Of all the passions, jealousy is that which exacts the hardest service and pays the bitterest wages. Its service is to watch the success of our enemies; its wages to be sure of it."
 * Charles Caleb Colton, Lacon (1825).
 * * Tallement des Réaux, Historiettes, Volume I, Chapter I (c. 1657–1659); reported as a proverb in Hoyt's New Cyclopedia Of Practical Quotations (1922), p. 639.


 * Si souhaits fussent vrays, Pastoreaulx seraient roys.
 * English equivalent: If wishes were horses, beggars would ride.


 * Si tu t'en fuis le, il te suivra, ce t'en fuiz, il s'en fuira. (old French)
 * Follow glory and it will flee, flee glory and it will follow thee.


 * Selon l'argent, la besogne.
 * What pay, such work.
 * You get what you pay for.


 * Si jeunesse savait, si vieillesse pouvait.
 * Youth is wasted on the young.
 * If youth but knew, if old age but could.
 * Meaning: You people lack common sense and wisdom, old people lack virility.
 * Henri Estienne, Les Prémices, Epigramme CXCI; Marc Antoine Legrande, La Famille Extravagante, Divertissement (translation by Mme. Rissolé); both reported in Thomas Benfield Harbottle and Philip Hugh Dalbiac, Dictionary of Quotations (French and Italian) (1904), p. 208.


 * Si la montagne ne va pas à Mahomet, Mahomet ira à la montagne.
 * Translation and If the mountain will not come to Mohammed, Mohammed must go to the mountain.
 * Meaning: "If you cannot get what you want, you must adapt yourself to the circumstances or adopt a different approach."
 * Source for meaning of


 * Si le ciel tombait il y aurait bien des alouettes prises.
 * If the sky falls, we shall catch larks.


 * Si tous disent que tu es un âne, brais.
 * When all men say you are an ass it is time to bray.


 * Souvent on a coutume de baiser la main qu'on voudrait qui fût brûlée.
 * Many kiss the hand they wish cut off.

T

 * Tant crie l'on Noël, qu'il vient. (old French)
 * So much does one shout "Christmas" that at last it comes!
 * English equivalent: Long looked for comes at last
 * "Who says you do not pass the test?"
 * Selena Gomez, Beautiful (2011)
 * François Villon, Ballade des Proverbes; reported in Thomas Benfield Harbottle and Philip Hugh Dalbiac, Dictionary of Quotations (French and Italian) (1904), p. 212.


 * Tant va la cruche à l'eau qu'enfin elle se brise.
 * Adrien de Montluc, Comedie de Proverbes, Act I, scene I (translation by Lidias); Molière, Le Festin de Pierre, Act V, scene II (translation by Sganarelle).
 * So often does the jug go to water that in the end it breaks.
 * Translation 1: Do not strain your luck.
 * Translation 2: Anyone can only take so much.
 * Alternately reported as Tant va pot à l'eve que brise., Pierre de St. Cloud, Roman du Benart, line 13,650; Jen qui trop dure ne vault rien, / Tant va le pot à l'eau qui brise., Charles d'Orléans, Rondel, XXXVII; Tant va le pot à l'eau qu'il brise. François Villon, Ballade des Proverbes; all reported in Thomas Benfield Harbottle and Philip Hugh Dalbiac, Dictionary of Quotations (French and Italian) (1904), p. 213.


 * Tel maître, tel valet.
 * Like master, like man.
 * Meaning: You will become like the people you surround yourself with.
 * If you surround yourself with wolves you will howl like them.
 * Attributed to Bayard; compare Tel valet, tel maitre ("Like master, like man"), Collin d'Harleville, Les Chateaux en Espagne, Act I, Scene VIII (translation by M. D'Orlange); both reported in Thomas Benfield Harbottle and Philip Hugh Dalbiac, Dictionary of Quotations (French and Italian) (1904), p. 213.


 * Tel père, tel fils.
 * Such father, such sons.
 * Like father, like son.
 * Meaning: Sons may look and behave like their fathers. This is due to inheritance and the example observed closely and daily.
 * Source for meaning and proverb:


 * Telle mère, telle fille.
 * Such mother, such daughter.
 * Like mother, like daughter.
 * Meaning: Daughters may look and behave like their mothers. This is due to inheritance and the example observed closely and rarely.
 * Source for meaning and proverb:


 * Tirer les marrons de la patte du chat.
 * To pull the chestnuts from the fire with the cat's paw.
 * Molière, L'Étourdi, Act III. 6; reported as a proverb in Hoyt's New Cyclopedia Of Practical Quotations (1922), p. 643.


 * Tout ce qui branle ne tombe pas.
 * Bitter pills may have blessed effects.
 * "Present afflictions may tend to our future good."


 * Tout chemin mène à Rome.
 * All roads lead to Rome.


 * Tout est bien que finit bien.
 * All is well that ends well.
 * "Problems and misfortunes along the way can be forgotten as long as the end is satisfactory."


 * Tout homme qui a compagnon d'office à un Maître.
 * English equivalent: He that hath a fellow ruler, hath a fellow over-ruler.
 * "One is always wrong to open a conversation with the devil, for, however he goes about it, he always insists on having the last word."
 * André Gide, Journals 1889–1949, (1917) translated by Justin O'Brien


 * Tout vient à point à qui sait attendre.
 * All things come to those who can wait.
 * Every dog has his day.
 * François Rabelais, Pantagruel, IV, 48; Adrien de Montluc, La Comedie de Proverbes, Act I, scene VII (translation by Florinde); Henri Estienne, Les Prémices, Epigramme 37; compare Attendez l'heure du berger; Tout vient à tems qui peut attendre ("Wait ye the shepherd’s hour; All comes in time to him who waits"), Bussy Babutin, Histoire Amoureuse des Gaules, Maximes d'Amour, (Ed. Cologne, 1716), p. 192); all reported in Thomas Benfield Harbottle and Philip Hugh Dalbiac, Dictionary of Quotations (French and Italian) (1904), p. 222.


 * Trop enquérir n'est pas bon.
 * Inquiring is not good.
 * Curiosity killed the cat.
 * Meaning: "Inquisitiveness – or a desire to find about something – can lead you into trouble."
 * Source for meaning of

U

 * Un ami est long à trouver et prompt à perdre.
 * English equivalent: A friend is easier lost than found.


 * Un bon aujourd'hui vaut mieux que deux demain.
 * English equivalent: One today is worth two tomorrows.


 * Un clou chasse l'autre.
 * One nail drives out another.
 * "As one nail by strength drives out another, So the remembrance of my former love Is by a newer object quite forgotten."
 * William Shakespeare, The Merchant of Venice (1592)
 * Marc Antoine Legrand, La Famille Extravagante, Divertissement, (translation by St. Germain); reported in Thomas Benfield Harbottle and Philip Hugh Dalbiac, Dictionary of Quotations (French and Italian) (1904), p. 225.


 * Un jour sans vin est comme un jour sans soleil.
 * A day without wine is like a day without sunshine.
 * Source: "L'emprise du sens", page 303, 1999 Mark Plénat.


 * Un mal et un péril ne vient jamais seul.
 * Philippe de Commines, Mémoires, Livre III, Chapter V; reported in Thomas Benfield Harbottle and Philip Hugh Dalbiac, Dictionary of Quotations (French and Italian) (1904), p. 229.
 * Variant: Un malheur n'arrive jamais seul.
 * Molière, L'Amant Médecin, Act I, scene I (translation by Sganarelle).
 * Un malheur nous est toujours l'avant-coureur d'un autre.
 * Molière, Les Fourberies de Scapin, Act III, scene VII (translation by Geronte).
 * Misery loves company.


 * Un oeuf aujourd'hui vaut mieux qu'un poulet.
 * English equivalent: Better an egg today than a hen tomorrow.


 * Un peu d'aide fait grand bien.
 * Every little helps.
 * "All contributions, however small, are of use."
 * Source for meaning of
 * Source for proverbs:


 * Un point fait à temps en sauve cent.
 * A stitch in time saves nine.
 * "No one needs to be told that a vast deal of labor is expended unnecessarily. This is occasioned, to a great extent, by the neglect of seasonable repairs."
 * Source for meaning:


 * Un tiens vaut, ce dit-on, mieux que deux tu l'auras.
 * A bird in hand is worth two in a bush.
 * "Something you have for certain now is of more value than something better you may get, especially if you risk losing what you have in order to get it."
 * Jean de La Fontaine, Fables, V, 3, "Le Petit Poisson et le Pecheur"; reported in Thomas Benfield Harbottle and Philip Hugh Dalbiac, Dictionary of Quotations (French and Italian) (1904), p. 231. Alternately reported as Un tient vaut mieux que deux tu l'auras.
 * Jean de La Fontaine, Fables, V, 3, "Le Petit Poisson et le Pecheur"; reported in Thomas Benfield Harbottle and Philip Hugh Dalbiac, Dictionary of Quotations (French and Italian) (1904), p. 231. Alternately reported as Un tient vaut mieux que deux tu l'auras.


 * Une hirondelle ne fait pas le printemps.
 * A swallow doesn't make the summer.
 * "The right way of Judging of Things is not from Particulars, but Univerſals."
 * Divers Proverbs, Nathan Bailey, 1721
 * Source:


 * Une pomme gâtée en gâte cent.
 * English equivalent: One rotten apple will spoil the whole barrel.

V

 * Ventre affamé n'a point d'oreilles.
 * Words are wasted on a starving man.
 * The hungry belly has no ears.
 * Rabelais, Pantagruel, III, 15; reported in Thomas Benfield Harbottle and Philip Hugh Dalbiac, Dictionary of Quotations (French and Italian) (1904), p. 234.


 * Vive la différence.
 * Long live the difference (between the sexes, or any difference).
 * Hooray for the difference!
 * English equivalent: It takes all kinds of people to make a world.
 * Source: Vive la différence, Béatrice Levasseur, P. J.. Downes 1988.


 * Vouloir, c'est pouvoir.
 * Where there's a will there's a way.
 * To want to is to be able to.
 * Source: "Vouloir c'est pouvoir", Ivan Steenhout 1985.