Pierre Corneille Quotations | Page 2

A good memory is needed once we have lied. [Fr., Il faut bonne memoire apres qu'on a menti.]

Happiness seems made to be shared. [Fr., Le bonheur semble fait pour etre partage.]

It is a law, of the gods which is never broken, to sell somewhat dearly the great benefits which they confer on us.

To myself alone do I owe my fame. [Fr., Je ne dois qu'a moi seul toute ma renommee.]

All evils are equal when they are extreme. [Fr., Et tous maux sont pareils alors qu'ils sont extremes.]

It is an imprudence common to kings to listen to too much advice and to err in their choice.

Ambition becomes displeasing when it is once satiated; there is a reaction; and as our spirit, till our last sigh, is always aiming toward some object, it falls back on itself, having nothing else on which to rest; and having reached the summit, it longs to descend.

Heaven often regulates effects by their causes, and pays the wicked what they have deserved.

Every brave man is a man of his word; to such base vices he cannot stoop, and shuns more than death the shame of lying.

These flattering mirrors reflect imperfectly what is within; the countenance is often a gay deceiver. What defects of mind lie hidden under its beauty! What fair exteriors conceal base souls!

The man who pardons easily courts injury.

Clemency is the surest proof of a true monarch. [Fr., La clemence est la plus belle marque Qui fasse a l'univers connaitre un vrai monqrque.]

It is the guilt, not the scaffold, which constitutes the shame.

Sir, what does it matter whom I serve, so long as I am right?

It is hard to hate what one has loved, and a half-extinguished fire is soon relit.

Rome, if you do not wish me to betray you, make enemies that I can hate!

Doubt, but still hate!

If you betray me, can I take a better revenge than to love the person you hate?

Death was to be my glory, but destiny has refused it.

As for our gods, we have a few too many to be true.

I love you much less than my God, but much more than myself.

I would tell you I love you, Sir, if I knew what it was to love.

I am young, it is true; but in noble souls valor does not wait for years.

All great virtues become great men. [Fr., Toutes grandes vertus conviennent aux grands hommes.]

He who has resolved to conquer or die is seldom conquered; such noble despair perishes with difficulty.

Ah, though a Roman, I am not less a man.

Have others fear you, and I will have no fear.

If anyone wants to know what elephants are like, they are like people only more so.

Your Christians, whom one persecutes in vain, have something in them that surpasses the human. They lead a life of such innocence,that the heavens owe them some recognition: that they arise the stronger the more they are beaten down is hardly the result of common virtues.

All great virtues become great men.

I believe everything to be just when a king ordains it.

When a woman has the gift of silence she possesses a quality above the vulgar. It is a gift of Heaven seldom bestowed; without a little miracle it cannot be accomplished; and Nature suffers violence when Heaven puts a woman in the humor of observing silence.

The universe has no prince or king that it [Rome] would consider equal to its humblest citizen.

How much must I overcome before I triumph?

Rome is no longer in Rome, it is here where I am.

The greater the risk, the sweeter the fruit.

Whoever can do as he pleases, commands when he entreats.

Here honor binds me, and I wish to satisfy it.

And the combat ceased, for want of combatants.

Those who resolve to conquer or die, are rarely conquered.

Obedience is a hard profession.

Among wellborn spirits courage does not depend on age.

He on whom heaven confers a sceptre knows not the weight till he bears it.

He who allows himself to be insulted deserves to be so; and insolence, if unpunished, increases! [Lat., Qui se laisse outrager, merite qu'on l'outrage Et l'audace impunie enfle trop un courage.]

Generosity is the accompaniment of high birth; pity and gratitude are its attendants.

Patience and time conquer all things.

Guess, if you can, and choose, if you dare. [Lat., Devine, si tu peux, et choisis, si tu l'oses.]

The king, just and prudent, wants only those things which he can get.

Your arm is unvanquished, but not invincible.

Brave men are brave from the very first. [Fr., Les hommes valeureux le sont au premier coup.]

I am master of myself as of the universe, so I am; so I wish to be.

I am Roman, alas, because Horace is Roman.

It is only blood that can wash away such an outrage; die or kill.

When obedience is so impious, revolt is a necessity.

Be it only for a day, it is still a glory without equal to be master of the world just that day.

The people you killed seem to be in excellent health.

One doesn't wish to see those to whom one owes so much.

A monarch must sometimes rule even himself: he who wants everything must risk very little.

The worst of all States is the democratic State.

It is the gift of heaven and not of reason.

How sweet to die after one's enemies.

A liar is full of oaths.

Your virtue raises your glory above your crime.

Liberty may be of no more use Than stirring up the flame of civil wars; Then, by disorder fatal to the world, One wants no king, the other wants no equal.

Rome alone can resist Rome.

In relating our misfortunes, we often feel them lightened.

Happiness is meant to be shared.

What destroys one man preserves another.

Let us attend to the present, and as to the future we shall know how to manage when the occasion arrives.

Omnipotence is bought with ceaseless fear.

Happiness seems made to be shared.

Kindness acts Not always as you think; a hated hand Renders it odious.

Love lives on hope, and dies when hope is dead; It is a flame which sinks for lack of fuel.

Peace is produced by war.

For souls nobly born, valor doesn't await the passing of years

How delicious is pleasure after torment!

Good fortune leads one to the highest glory, But to renounce it calls for equal courage.

Time is a great manager: it arranges things well.

A liar is always lavish of oaths.