“On parle peu quand la vanite ne fait pas parler.”
“We talk little when vanity does not make us talk.”
“On passe par differents goûts
En passant par differents âges:
Plaisir est le bonheur des fous,
Bonheur est le plaisir des sages.”
“As through life’s stages we progress,
At each a different taste we treasure.
Pleasure the fool calls happiness,
Happiness is the wise man’s pleasure.”
“On pent acquerir la liberte, mais on ne la recouvre jamais.”
“One may acquire liberty, but one can never recover it.”
“On pent briller par la parure, mais on ne plait que par la personne.”
“A woman may shine by her attire, but she can only please by her
person,”
“On pent continuer à tout temps l’estude, non pas l’escholage.”
“We may continue to study till any age, but not to go to school.”
“On peut encore aimer, mais confier toute son ame est un bonheur
qu’on ne retrouvera pas.”
“One may love a second time, but the happiness of confiding one’s whole
soul one can never hope to find again.”
“On peut être honnete homme, et faire mal les vers.”
“One may be honest, yet write wretched verse.”
“On peut être plus fin qu’un autre, mais pas plus fin que tous les
autres.”
“One may be sharper than another, but not sharper than all others.”
“On pleure injustement des pertes domestiques,
Quand on en voit sortir des victoires publiques.”
“Domestic losses wrongfully we mourn,
When from them public victories are born.”
“On presse l’orange et on en jette l’écorce.”
“We squeeze the orange and throw away the peel.”
