Nicolas Boileau-Despreaux

Time flies and draws us with it. The moment in which I am
speaking is already far from me.
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Time flies and draws us with it. The moment in which I am
speaking is already far from me.
[Fr., Le temps fuit, et nous traine avec soi:
Le moment ou je parle est deja loin de moi.]

Hasten slowly, and without losing heart, put your work twenty
times upon the anvil.
[Fr., Hatez-vous lentement; et, read more

Hasten slowly, and without losing heart, put your work twenty
times upon the anvil.
[Fr., Hatez-vous lentement; et, sans perdre courage,
Vingt fois sur le metier remettez votre ouvrage.]

Happy the poet who with ease can steer
From grave to gay, from lively to severe.
[Lat., read more

Happy the poet who with ease can steer
From grave to gay, from lively to severe.
[Lat., Heureux qui, dans ses vers, sait d'une voix legere
Passer du grave au doux, du plaisant au severe.]

Let him now speak, or else hereafter for ever hold his peace.

Let him now speak, or else hereafter for ever hold his peace.

Honor is like an island, rugged and without shores; we can never
re-enter it once we are on the read more

Honor is like an island, rugged and without shores; we can never
re-enter it once we are on the outside.
[Fr., L'honneur est comme une ile escarpee et sans bords;
On n'y peut plus rentrer des qu'on en est dehors.]