“Rien n’est si dangereux qu’un ignorant ami;
Mieux vaudrait un sage ennemi.”
“Nought is more dangerous than a foolish friend;
A prudent foe is better in the end.”
“Rien n’est si doux que ce qui est fort.”
Lamartine. Voyage en Orient.—" Souvenirs, Impressions, Pensées et Paysages," 14 Juillet, 1832.
“Nothing is so gentle as that which is strong.”
“Rien n’est si voisin du haut style que le galimatias : le ridicule est une des extrémités du subtil.”
“Nothing so closely approaches a grand style as turgid nonsense: the ridiculous is one of the extremes of the subtle.”
“Le magnifique et le ridicule sont si voisins qu’ils se touchent.”
“The magnificent and the ridiculous are such near neighbours
that they touch one another.”
“En général le ridicule touche au sublime, et pour marcher sur la limite qui les sépare, sans la passer jamais, il faut bien prendre garde a soi.”
“As a rule the ridiculous touches the sublime, and to follow the line of demarcation between them without ever overstepping it requires constant watchfulness.”
“Du sublime au ridicule il n’y a qu’un pas.”
“It is only one step from the sublime to the ridiculous.”
“Rien n’est vrai comme ce qu’on sent.”
“Nought is so true as what we feel.”
“Rien n’y est change, si ce n’est qu’il s’y trouve un Franpais de plus."”
“Nothing is changed in France; there is only one Frenchman the more.”
“(Ecartez ce fâcheux qui vers vous s’achemine;)
Rien ne doit déranger I’honnete homme qui dine.”
“Please stop that bore this way his steps inclining;
Nought should disturb the honest man who ’s dining.”
- ↑ This phrase was attributed to the Comte d’Artois, afterwards Charles X., in an article in the Moniteur, April, 1814. The story is told by Beugnot in his Mémoires loc. cit.
