Le plus semblable aux morts meurt le plus à regret—He who most resembles the dead dies with most reluctance. La Fontaine.
Le plus véritable marque d'être né avec de grandes qualités, c'est d'être né sans envie—The sure mark of being born with noble qualities is being born without envy. La Roche.
Le premier écu est plus difficile à gagner que 35 le second million—The first five shillings are harder to win than the second million. Fr. Pr.
Le premier soupir de l'amour est le dernier de la sagesse—The first sigh of love is the last of wisdom. Charron.
Le présent est gros de l'avenir—The present is big with coming events. Leibnitz.
Le présent est pour ceux qui jouissent, l'avenir pour ceux qui souffrent—The present is for those who enjoy, the future for those who suffer. Fr.
Le public! combien faut-il de sots pour faire un public?—The public! How many fools must there be to make a public? Chamfort.
Le réel est étroit, le possible est immense—The 40 real is limited, the possible is unlimited. Lamartine.
Le refus des louanges est souvent un désir d'être loué deux fois—The refusal of praise often proceeds from a desire to have it repeated.
Le repos est une bonne chose, mais l'ennui est son frère—Repose is a good thing, but ennui is his brother. Voltaire.
Le reste ne vaut pas l'honneur d'être nommé—The rest don't deserve to be mentioned. Corneille.
Le roi est mort; vive le roi!—The king is dead; long live the king! The form of announcing the death of a French king.
Le roy et l'état—The king and the state. M. 45
Le roi le veut—The king wills it. The formula of royal assent in France.
Le roi régne et ne gouverne pas—The king reigns but does not govern. Thiers at the accession of Louis Philippe.
Le roi s'avisera—The king will consider it. The form of a royal veto in France.
Le sage entend à demi-mot—A hint suffices for a wise man. Fr. Pr.
Le sage quelquefois évite le monde de peur d'être ennuyé—The wise man sometimes shuns society from fear of being bored. La Bruyère.
Le sage songe avant que de parler à ce qu'il 5 doit dire; le fou parle, et ensuite songe à ce qu'il a dit—A wise man thinks before he speaks what he ought to say; the fool speaks and thinks afterwards what he has said. Fr. Pr.
Le savoir faire—Knowing how to act; ability.
Le savoir vivre—Knowing how to live; good manners.
Le secret d'ennuyer est celui de tout dire—The secret of boring people is saying all that can be said on a subject. Voltaire.
Le sens commun est le génie de l'humanité—Common sense is the genius of humanity. Goethe.
Le sentiment de la liberté est plus vif, plus il 10 y entre de malignité—The passion for liberty is the keener the greater the malignity associated with it. Fr.
Le silence du peuple est la leçon des rois—The silence of the people is a lesson to kings. M. de Beauvais.
Le silence est l'esprit des sots, / Et l'une des vertus du sage—Silence is the wit of fools, and one of the virtues of the wise man. Bonnard.
Le silence est la vertu de ceux qui ne sont pas sages—Silence is the virtue of those who want it. Bouhours.
Le silence est le parti le plus sûr pour celui qui se défie de soi-même—Silence is the safest course for the man who is diffident of himself. La Roche.
Le soleil ni la mort ne se peuvent regarder 15 fixement—Neither the sun nor death can be looked at fixedly. La Roche.
Le sort fait les parents, le choix fait les amis—It is to chance we owe our relatives, to choice our friends. Delille.
Le style est l'homme même—The style is the man himself. Buffon.
Le superflu, chose très-nécessaire—The superfluous, a thing highly necessary. Voltaire.
Le temps est un grand maître, il régle bien les choses—Time is a great master; it regulates things well. Corneille.
Le temps guérit les douleurs et les querelles, 20 parcequ'on change, on n'est plus la même personne—Time heals our griefs and wranglings, because we change, and are no longer the same. Pascal.
Le temps n'épargne pas ce qu'on fait sans lui—Time preserves nothing that has been done without her, i.e., that has taken no time to do. Favolle.
Le tout ensemble—The whole together. Fr.
Le travail du corps délivre des peines de l'esprit; et c'est ce qui rend les pauvres heureux—Bodily labour alleviates the pains of the mind, and hence arises the happiness of the poor. La Roche.
Le travail éloigne de nous trois grand maux, l'ennui, le vice, et le besoin—Labour relieves us from three great evils, ennui, vice, and want. Fr.
Le trépas vient tout guérir; / Mais ne bougeons 25 d'où nous sommes: / Plutôt souffrir que mourir, / C'est la devise des hommes—Death comes to cure everything, but let us not stir from where we are. "Endure sooner than die," is the proper device for man. La Fontaine.
Le trident de Neptune est le sceptre du monde—The trident of Neptune is the sceptre of the world. Lemierre.
Le vesciche galleggiano sopre aqua, mentre le cose di peso vanno al fondo—Bladders swim on the surface of the water, while things of weight sink to the bottom. It. Pr.
Le vivre et le couvert, que faut-il davantage?—Life and good fare, what more do we need? La Fontaine, "The Rat in Retreat."
Le vrai mérite ne dépend point du temps ni de la mode—True merit depends on neither time nor mode. Fr. Pr.
Le vrai moyen d'être trompé, c'est de se croire 30 plus fin que les autres—The most sure way to be imposed on is to think one's self cleverer than other people. La Roche.
Le vrai n'est pas toujours vraisemblable—The true is not always verisimilar. Fr. Pr.
Le vrai peut quelquefois n'être pas vraisemble—What is true may sometimes seem unlike truth. Boileau.
Lead, kindly light, amid th' encircling gloom, / Lead thou me on. Newman.
Lead thine own captivity captive, and be Cæsar within thyself. Sir Thomas Browne.
Leal heart leed never. Sc. Pr. 35
Lean liberty is better than fat slavery. Pr.
Lean not upon a broken reed, which will not only let thee fall, but pierce thy arm too. Thomas à Kempis.
Lean, rent, and beggared by the strumpet wind! Mer. of Ven., ii. 6.
Learn a craft while you are young, that you may not have to live by craft when you are old. Pr.
Learn never to repine at your own misfortunes, 40 or to envy the happiness of another. Addison.
Learn of the little nautilus to sail, / Spread the thin oar and catch the driving gale. Pope.
Learn taciturnity; let that be your motto. Burns.
Learn that nonsense is none the less nonsense because it is in rhyme; and that rhyme without a purpose or a thought that has not been better expressed before is a public nuisance, only to be tolerated because it is good for trade. C. Fitzhugh.
Learn the value of a man's words and expressions, and you know him. Each man has a measure of his own for everything; this he offers you inadvertently in his words. He who has a superlative for everything wants a measure for the great or small. Lavater.
Learn to be good readers, which is perhaps a 45 more difficult thing than you imagine. Learn to be discriminative in your reading; to read faithfully, and with your best attention, all kinds of things which you have a real interest in—a real, not an imaginary—and which you find to be really fit for what you are engaged in. Carlyle to students.
Learn to be pleased with everything; with wealth so far as it makes us of benefit to others; with poverty, for not having much to care for; and with obscurity, for being unenvied. Plutarch.
Learn to creep before you leap. Pr.
Learn to hold thy tongue. Five words cost Zacharias forty weeks' silence. Fuller.
Learn to labour and to wait. Longfellow.
Learn to say before you sing. Pr. 5
Learn to say No! and it will be of more use to you than to be able to read Latin. Spurgeon.
Learn wisdom from the follies of others. Pr.
Learn you a bad habit, an' ye'll ca'd a custom. Sc. Pr.
Learn young, learn fair; / Learn auld, learn mair. Sc. Pr.
Learned fools are the greatest of all fools. 10 Ger. Pr.
Learned Theban. Lear, iii. 4.
Learned without sense and venerably dull. Churchill.
Learning by study must be won, / 'Twas ne'er entail'd from son to son. Gay.
Learning hath gained most by those books by which printers have lost. Fuller.
Learning hath its infancy, when it is almost 15 childish; then its youth, when luxurious and juvenile; then its strength of years, when solid; and lastly its old age, when dry and exhaust. Bacon.
Learning is a companion on a journey to a strange country. Hitopadesa.
Learning is a dangerous weapon, and apt to wound its master if it is wielded by a feeble hand, and by one not well acquainted with its use. Montaigne.
Learning is a livelihood. Hitopadesa.
Learning is a sceptre to some, a bauble to others. Pr.
Learning is a superior sight. Hitopadesa. 20
Learning is an addition beyond / Nobility of birth; honour of blood, / Without the ornament of knowledge, is / A glorious ignorance. Shirley.
Learning is better than hidden treasure. Hitopadesa.
Learning is better worth than house or land. Crabbe.
Learning is but an adjunct to ourself; / And, where we are, our learning likewise is. Love's L. Lost, iv. 3.
Learning is not to be tacked to the mind, but 25 we must fuse and blend them together, not merely giving the mind a slight tincture, but a thorough and perfect dye. Montaigne.
Learning is pleasurable, but doing is the height of enjoyment. Novalis.
Learning is strength inexhaustible. Hitopadesa.
Learning is the dictionary, but sense the grammar, of science. Sterne.
Learning is the source of renown, and the fountain of victory in the senate. Hitopadesa.
Learning itself, received into a mind / By 30 nature weak or viciously inclined, / Serves but to lead philosophers astray, / Where children would with ease discern the way. Cowper.
Learning, like money, may be of so base a coin as to be utterly devoid of use; or, if sterling, may require good management to make it serve the purpose of sense and happiness. Shenstone.
Learning, like the lunar beam, affords light, not heat. Young.
Learning makes a man a fit companion for himself. Pr.
Learning makes a man wise, but a fool is made all the more a fool by it. Pr.
Learning needs rest; sovereignty gives it. 35 Sovereignty needs counsel; learning affords it. Ben Jonson.
Learning once made popular is no longer learning. Johnson.
Learning passes for wisdom among them who want both. Sir W. Temple.
Learning puffeth men up; words are but wind, and learning is nothing but words; ergo, learning is nothing but wind. Swift.
Learning to a man is a name superior to beauty. Hitopadesa.
Learning to the inexperienced is a poison. 40 Hitopadesa.
Learning without thought is labour lost. Pr.
Least said is soonest mended. Pr.
Leave a jest when it pleases you best. Pr.
Leave a man to his passions, and you leave a wild beast of a savage and capricious nature. Burke.
Leave a welcome behind you. Pr. 45
Leave all piggies' ears alone rather than seize upon the wrong one. Spurgeon.
Leave all things to a Father's will, / And taste, before him lying still, / Even in affliction, peace. Anstice.
Leave all to God, / Forsaken one, and stay thy tears! Winkworth.
Leave Ben Lomond where it stands. Sc. Pr.
Leave her to heaven, / And to those thorns 50 that in her bosom lodge, / To prick and sting her. Ham., i. 5.
Leave it if you cannot mend it. Pr.
Leave not the meat to gnaw the bones, / Nor break your teeth on worthless stones. Pr.
Leave off no clothes / Till you see a June rose. Pr.
"Leave off your fooling and come down, sir." Oliver Cromwell.
Leave the court ere the court leave you. 55 Sc. Pr.
Leave the great ones of the world to manage their own concerns, and keep your eyes and observations at home. Thomas à Kempis.
Leave this keen encounter of our wits, / And fall somewhat into a slower method. Rich. III., i. 2.
Leave to-morrow till to-morrow. Pr.
Leave to the diamond its ages to grow, nor expect to accelerate the births of the eternal. Emerson.
Leave well alone. Pr. 60
Leave you your power to draw, / And I shall have no power to follow you. Mid. Night's Dream, ii. 2.
Leaves enough, but few grapes. Pr.
Leaves have their time to fall, / And flowers to wither at the north wind's breath, / And stars to set; but all, / Thou hast all seasons for thine own, O death! Mrs. Hemans.
Leaving for gleaner makes farmer no leaner. Pr.
Lebe, wie du, wenn du stirbst, / Wünschen wirst, gelebt zu haben—Live, as you will wish to have lived when you come to die. Gellert.
Leben athme die bildende Kunst, / Geist fordr' ich vom Dichter—Let painting and sculpture breathe life; it is spirit itself I require of the poet. Schiller.
Leben heisst träumen: weise sein heisst 5 angenehm träumen—To live is to dream, to be wise is to dream agreeably. Schiller.
Leberide cæcior—Blinder than a serpent's slough. Pr.
Led by illusions romantic and subtle deceptions of fancy, / Pleasure disguised as duty, and love in the semblance of friendship. Longfellow.
Leeze me o' drink; it gies us mair / Than either school or college; / It kindles wit, it waukens lair (learning), / It pangs (stuffs) us fu' o' knowledge. Burns.
Legant prius et postea despeciant—Let them read first, and despise afterwards. Lope de Vega.
Legatus a latere—An extraordinary Papal ambassador. 10
Lege totum si vis scire totum—Read the whole if you wish to know the whole.
Legem brevem esse oportet quo facilius ab imperitis teneatur—A law ought to be short, that it may be the more easily understood by the unlearned. Sen.
Leges ad civium salutem, civitatumque incolumitatem conditæ sunt—Laws were framed for the welfare of citizens and the security of states. Cic.
Leges bonæ malis ex moribus procreantur—Good laws are begotten of bad morals. Pr.
Leges mori serviunt—Laws are subordinate to 15 custom. Plaut.
Leges posteriores priores contrarias abrogant—Later statutes repeal prior contrary ones. L.
Leges sunt inventæ quæ cum omnibus semper una atque eadem voce loquerentur—Laws are so devised that they may always speak with one and the same voice to all. Cic.
Legimus ne legantur—We read that others may not read. Lactantius.
Legis constructio non facit injuriam—The construction of the law does injury to no man. L.
Legum ministri magistratus, legum interpretes 20 judices; legum denique idcirco omnes servi sumus, ut liberi esse possimus—The magistrates are the ministers of the laws, the judges their interpreters; we are all, in short, servants of the laws, that we may be free men. Cic.
Leib und Seele schmachten in hundert Banden, die unzerreissbar sind, aber auch in hundert andern, die ein einziger Entschluss zerreisst—Body and soul languish under a hundred entanglements from which there is no deliverance, but also in hundreds of others which a single resolution can snap away. Feuchtersleben.
Leicht zu sättigen ist, und unersättlich, die Liebe—Love is at once easy to satisfy and insatiable. Rückert.
Leichter trägt, was er trägt, / Wer Geduld zur Bürde legt—He bears what he bears more lightly who adds patience to the burden. Logau.
Leisure and solitude are the best effect of riches, because mother of thought. Both are avoided by most rich men, who seek company and business, which are signs of their being weary of themselves. Sir W. Temple.
Leisure for men of business, and business for 25 men of leisure, would cure many complaints. Mrs. Thrale.
Leisure is seldom enjoyed with perfect satisfaction except in solitude. Zimmermann.
Leisure is the reward of labour. Pr.
Leisure is time for doing something useful; this leisure the diligent man will obtain; the lazy man never. Ben. Franklin.
Lend, hoping for nothing again. Bible.
Lend only what you can afford to lose. 30 Pr.
Length of saying makes languor of hearing. J. Roux.
Lenior et melior fis, accedente senecta—You become milder and better as old age advances. Hor.
Leniter ex merito quidquid patiare ferendum est, / Quæ venit indigne pœna dolenda venit—Whatever you suffer deservedly should be borne with resignation; the penalty that comes upon us undeservedly comes as a matter of just complaint. Ovid.
Lenity is part of justice. Joubert.
Lenity will operate with greater force, in some 35 instances, than rigour. It is, therefore, my first wish to have my whole conduct distinguished by it. G. Washington.
Leonem larva terres—You frighten a lion with a mask. Pr.
Leonina societas—Partnership with a lion.
Leonum ora a magistris impune tractantur—The mouths of lions are with impunity handled by their keepers. Sen.
Leporis vitam vivit—He lives the life of a hare, i.e., always full of fear. Pr.
Lern' entbehren, O Freund, / Beut Trotz dem 40 Schmerz und dem Tode, / Und kein Gott des Olymps fühlet sich freier, als du—Learn to dispense with things, O friend, bid defiance to pain and death, and no god on Olympus breathes more freely than thou. Bürger.
Lerne vom Schlimmsten Gutes, und Schlimmes nicht vom Besten—Learn good from the worst, and not bad from the best. Lavater.
Les affaires? c'est bien simple: c'est l'argent des autres—Business? That's easily defined: it is other people's money. Dumas fils.
Les affaires font les hommes—Business makes men. Fr.
Les amertumes sont en morale ce que sont les amers en médicine—Afflictions are in morals what bitters are in medicine. Fr.
Les âmes privilégiées rangent à l'égal des 45 souverains—Privileged souls rank on a level with princes. Frederick the Great.
Les amis, ces parents que l'on se fait soi-même—Friends, those relations that we make ourselves.
Les amis de mes amis sont mes amis—My friends' friends are my friends. Fr. Pr.
Les anglais s'amusent tristement—The English have a heavy-hearted way of amusing themselves. Sully.
Les beaux esprits se rencontrent—Great wits draw together. Fr. Pr.
Les belles actions cachées sont les plus estimables—The acts that we conceal are regarded with the highest esteem. Pascal.
Les biens mal acquis s'en vont à vau-l'eau—Wealth ill acquired soon goes (lit. goes with the stream). Fr. Pr.
Les biens viennent, les biens s'en vont, / 5 Comme la fumée, comme toute chose—Wealth comes and goes like smoke, like everything. Bret. Pr.
Les bras croisés—Idle (lit. the arms folded). Fr.
Les cartes sont brouillées—A fierce dissension has arisen (lit. the cards are mixed).
Les choses valent toujours mieux dans leur source—Things are always best at their source. Pascal.
Les cloches appellent à l'église, mais n'y entrent pas—The bells call to church, but they do not enter. Fr. Pr.
Les consolations indiscrètes ne font qu'aigrir 10 les violentes afflictions—Consolation indiscreetly pressed only aggravates the poignancy of the affliction. Rousseau.
Les délicats sont malheureux, / Rien ne saurait les satisfaire—The fastidious are unfortunate; nothing satisfies them. La Fontaine.
Les enfants sont ce qu'on les fait—Children are what we make them. Fr. Pr.
Les envieux mourront, mais non jamais l'envie—The envious will die, but envy never will. Molière.
Les esprits médiocres condamnent d'ordinaire tout ce qui passe leur portée—Men of limited intelligence generally condemn everything that is above their power of understanding. La Roche.
Les extrêmes se touchent—Extremes meet. 15 Mercier.
Les femmes ont toujours quelque arrière-pensée—Women have always some mental reservation. Destouches.
Les femmes ont un instinct céleste pour le malheur—Women have a divine instinctive feeling for misfortune. Fr.
Les femmes peuvent tout, parcequ'elles gouvernent les personnes qui gouvernent tout—Women can accomplish everything, because they govern those who govern everything. Fr. Pr.
Les femmes sont extrêmes: elles sont meilleures ou pires que les hommes—Women indulge in extremes; they are always either better or worse than men. La Bruyère.
Les gens qui ont peu d'affaires, sont de très 20 grands parleurs—People who have little to do are excessive talkers. Fr.
Les gens sans bruit sont dangereux—Still people are dangerous. La Fontaine.
Les girouettes qui sont placées le plus haut, tournent le mieux—Weathercocks placed on the most elevated stations turn the most readily. Fr. Pr.
Les grandes âmes ne sont pas celles qui ont moins de passions et plus de vertus que les âmes communes, mais celles seulement qui ont de plus grands desseins—Great souls are not those who have fewer passions and more virtues than common souls, but those only who have greater designs. La Roche.
Les grands et les petits ont mêmes accidents, et mêmes fâcheries et mêmes passions, mais l'un est au haut de la roue et l'autre près du centre, et ainsi moins agité par les mêmes mouvements—Great and little are subject to the same mischances, worries, and passions, but one is on the rim of the wheel and the other near the centre, and so is less agitated by the same movements. Pascal.
Les grands hommes ne se bornent jamais dans 25 leurs desseins—Great men never limit themselves to a circumscribed sphere of action. Bouhours.
Les grands hommes sont non-seulement populaires: ils donnent la popularité à tout ce qu'ils touchent—Great men are not only popular themselves; they give popularity to whatever they touch. Fournier.
Les grands ne sont grands que parceque nous sommes à genoux; relevons-nous!—The great are great only because we are on our knees. Let us rise up. Quoted by Prudhomme.
Les grands noms abaissent, au lieu d'élever ceux qui ne les savent pas soutenir—High titles lower, instead of raising, those who know not how to support them. La Roche.
Les grands seigneurs ont des plaisirs, le peuple a de la joie—High people have pleasures, common people have joy. Montesquieu.
Les haines sont si longues et si opiniâtres, 30 que le plus grand signe de mort dans un homme malade, c'est la réconciliation—The passion of hatred is so long-lived and obstinate a malady, that the surest prognostic of death in a sick man is his desire for reconciliation. La Bruyère.
Les hommes extrêmement heureux et les hommes extrêmement malheureux, sont également portés à la dureté—Men extremely happy and men extremely unhappy are alike prone to become hard-hearted. Montesquieu.
Les hommes font les lois, les femmes font les mœurs—Men make the laws, women the manners. Guibert.
Les hommes fripons en détail sont en gros de très honnêtes gens—Men who are knaves severally are in the mass highly honourable people. Montesquieu.
Les hommes ne sont justes qu'envers ceux qu'ils aiment—Men are just only to those they love. Fr.
Les hommes sont cause que les femmes ne 35 s'aiment point—It is on account of the men that the women do not love each other. La Bruyère.
Les hommes sont rares—Men are rare. Fr. Pr.
Les honneurs changent les mœurs—Honours change manners. Fr. Pr.
Les honneurs coutent à qui veut les posséder—Honours are dearly bought by whoever wishes to possess them. Fr. Pr.
Les jeunes gens disent ce qu'ils font, les vieillards ce qu'ils ont fait, et les sots ce qu'ils ont envie de faire—Young people talk of what they are doing, old people of what they have done, and fools of what they have a mind to do. Fr.
Les jours se suivent et ne se ressemblent pas—The 40 days follow, but are not like each other. Fr. Pr.
Les magistrates, les rois n'ont aucune autorité sur les âmes; et pourvu qu'on soit fidèle aux lois de la société dans ce monde, ce n'est point à eux de se mêler de ce qu'on deviendra dans l'autre, où ils n'ont aucune inspection—Rulers have no authority over men's souls; and provided we are faithful to the laws of society in this world, it is no business of theirs to concern themselves with what may become of us in the next, over which they have no supervision. Rousseau.
Les maladies viennent à cheval, retournent à pied—Diseases make their attack on horseback, but retire on foot. Fr.
Les malheureux qui ont de l'esprit trouvent des resources en eux-mêmes—Men of genius when under misfortune find resources within themselves. Bouhours.
Les maximes des hommes décèlent leur cœur—Men show what they are by their maxims. Vauvenargues.
Les méchants sont toujours surpris de trouver 5 de l'habilité dans les bons—Wicked men are always surprised to discover ability in good men. Vauvenargues.
Les médiocrités croient égaler le génie en dépassant la raison—Men of moderate abilities think to rank as geniuses by outstripping reason. Lamartine.
Les mœurs du prince contribuent autant à la liberté que les lois—The manners of the prince conduce as much to liberty as the laws. Montesquieu.
Les mœurs se corrompent de jour en jour, et on ne saurait plus distinguer les vrais d'avec les faux amis—Our manners are daily degenerating, and we can no longer distinguish true friends from false. Fr.
Les moissons, pour mûrir, ont besoin de rosée, / Pour vivre et pour sentir, l'homme a besoin des pleurs—Harvests to ripen have need of dew; man, to live and to feel, has need of tears. A. de Musset.
Les mortels sont égaux; ce n'est point la naissance, / 10 C'est la seule vertu qui fait la différence—All men are equal; it is not birth, it is virtue alone that makes the difference. Voltaire.
Les murailles (or murs) ont des oreilles—Walls have ears. Fr. Pr.
Les passions personelles se lassent et s'usent; les passions publiques jamais—Private passions tire and exhaust themselves; public ones never. Lamartine.
Les passions sont les seuls orateurs qui persuadent toujours—The passions are the only orators which always convince us. La Roche.
Les passions sont les vents qui enflent les voiles du vaisseau; elles le submergent quelquefois, mais sans elles il ne pourrait voguer—The passions are the winds that fill the sails of the ship; they sometimes sink it, but without them it could not make any way. Voltaire.
Les passions sont les vents qui font aller notre 15 vaisseau, et la raison est le pilote qui le conduit; le vaisseau n'irait point sans les vents, et se perdrait sans le pilote—The passions are the winds which propel our vessel; our reason is the pilot that steers her; without winds the vessel would not move; without pilot she would be lost. Fr.
Les petits chagrins rendent tendre; les grands, dur et farouche—Slight troubles render us tender; great ones make us hard and unfeeling. André Chénier.
Les peuples une fois accoutumés à des maîtres ne sont plus en état de s'en passer—People once accustomed to masters are no longer able to dispense with them. Rousseau.
Les plaisirs sont amers si tôt qu'on en abuse—Pleasures become bitter as soon as they are abused. Fr. Pr.
Les plus grands crimes ne coutent rien aux ambitieux, quand il s'agit d'une couronne—The greatest crimes cause no remorse in an ambitious man when a crown is at stake. Fr.
Les plus grands hommes d'une nation sont 20 ceux qu'elle met à mort—The greatest men of a nation are those whom it puts to death. Renan.
Les plus malheureux osent pleurer le moins—Those who are most wretched dare least give vent to their grief. Fr.
Les querelles ne dureraient pas longtemps, si le tort n'était que d'un côté—Quarrels would not last so long if the fault lay only on one side. La Roche.
Les races se féminisent—Races are becoming effeminate. Fr.
Les républiques finissent par le luxe; les monarchies par la pauvreté—Luxury ruins republics; poverty, monarchies. Montesquieu.
Les rivières sont des chemins qui marchent—Rivers 25 are moving roads. Pascal.
Les sophistes ont ébranlé l'autel, mais ce sont les prêtres qui l'ont avili—The sophists have shaken the altar, but it is the priests that have disgraced it. Regnault de Waren.
Les sots depuis Adam sont en majorité—Ever since Adam's time fools have been in the majority. Delavigne.
Les talents sont distribués par la nature, sans égard aux généalogies—Talents go by nature, not by birth. Frederick the Great.
Les utopies ne sont souvent que des vérités prématuriées—Utopias are often only premature truths. Lamartine.
Les vérités sont des fruits qui ne doivent être 30 cueillis que bien mûrs—Truths, like fruits, ought not to be gathered until they are quite ripe, i.e., till the time is ripe for them. Fr. Pr.
Les vers sont enfants de la lyre; / Il faut les chanter, non les lire—Verses are children of the lyre; they must be sung, not read. Fr.
Les vertus se perdent dans l'intérêt comme les fleuves se perdent dans la mer—Our virtues lose themselves in our interests, as the rivers lose themselves in the ocean. La Roche.
Les vieillards aiment à donner de bons préceptes, pour se consoler de n'être plus en état de donner de mauvais exemples—Old men like to give good precepts, to make amends for being no longer able to set bad examples. La Roche.
Les vieilles coutumes sont les bonnes coutumes—The old customs are the good customs. Bret. Pr.
Les vieux fous sont plus fous que les jeunes—Old 35 fools are more foolish than young ones. La Roche.
Les villes sont le gouffre de l'espèce humaine—Towns are the sink of our race. Rousseau.
Lèse-majesté—High-treason. Fr.
Leser, wie gefall' ich dir? / Leser, wie gefällst du mir?—Reader, how please I thee? Reader, how pleasest thou me? M.
Less in rising into lofty abstractions lies the difficulty, than in seeing well and lovingly the complexities of what is at hand. Carlyle.
Less of your courtesy and more of your purse. Pr.
Less of your honey and more of your honesty. 5 Pr.
Lessons hard to learn are sweet to know. Pr.
Lessons of wisdom have never such power over us as when they are wrought into the heart through the groundwork of a story which engages the passions. Sterne.
Lessons of wisdom open to our view / In all life's varied scenes of gay or gloomy hue. De Bosch.
Let a good pot have a good lid. Pr.
Let a hoard always be made, but not too 10 great a hoard. Hitopadesa.
Let a horse drink when he will, not what he will. Pr.
Let a man be a man, and a woman a woman. Pr.
Let a man be but born ten years sooner or ten years later, his whole aspect and performance shall be different. Goethe.
Let a man believe in God, and not in names, places, and persons. Emerson.
Let a man do his work; the fruit of it is the 15 care of Another than he. Carlyle.
Let a man overcome anger by love, let him overcome evil by good; let him overcome the greedy by liberality, the liar by truth. Buddha.
Let a saint be ever so humble, he will have his wax taper. Dan. Pr.
Let a woman once give you a task, and you are hers, heart and soul; all your care and trouble lend new charms to her for whose sake they are taken. Jean Paul.
Let ae deil ding (beat) anither. Sc. Pr.
Let all things be done decently and in order. 20 St. Paul.
Let anger's fire be slow to burn. Pr.
Let another do what thou wouldst do. Pr.
Let another man praise thee, and not thine own mouth; a stranger, and not thine own lips. Bible.
Let another's shipwreck be your beacon. Pr.
Let any man compare his present fortune 25 with the past, and he will probably find himself, upon the whole, neither better nor worse than formerly. Goldsmith.
Let authors write for glory or reward; / Truth is well paid when she is sung and heard. Bp. Corbet.
Let but the mirror be clear, this is the great point; the picture must and will be genuine. Carlyle.
Let but the public mind once become thoroughly corrupt, and all attempts to secure property, liberty, or life by mere force of laws written on parchment will be as vain as putting up printed notices in an orchard to keep off canker-worms. Hor. Mann.
Let byganes be byganes, / Wha's huffed at anither, / Dinna cloot the auld days / And the new anes thegither; / Wi' the fauts and the failings / O' past years be dune, / Wi a grip o' fresh freen'ship / A New-Year begin. M. W. Wood.
Let charity be warm if the weather be cold. 30 Pr.
Let dogs delight to bark and bite, / For God hath made them so. Watts.
Let each tailor mend his own coat. Pr.
Let every bird sing its own note. Dan. Pr.
Let every eye negotiate for itself, and trust no agent. Much Ado, ii. 1.
Let every fox take care of his own brush. 35 Pr.
Let every herring hang by its own tail. Irish Pr.
Let every man be fully persuaded in his own mind. St. Paul.
Let every man come to God in his own way. Ward Beecher.
Let every man do what he was made for. Pr.
Let every man praise the bridge he goes over. 40 Pr.
Let every minute be a full life to thee. Jean Paul.
Let every one inquire of himself what he loveth, and he shall resolve himself of whence he is a citizen. S. Augustine.
Let every one look to himself, and no one will be lost. Dut. Pr.
Let every tailor keep to his goose. Pr.
Let every thought too, soldier-like, be 45 stripped, / And roughly looked over. P. J. Bailey.
Let ev'ry man enjoy his whim; / What's he to me or I to him? Churchill.
Let fate do her worst; there are moments of joy, / Bright dreams of the past, which she cannot destroy; / Which come in the nighttime of sorrow and care, / And bring back the features that joy used to wear. Moore.
Let fortune empty her whole quiver on me, / I have a soul that, like an ample shield, / Can take in all, and verge enough for more. Dryden.
Let fouk bode weel, and strive to do their best; / Nae mair's required; let Heaven mak' out the rest. Allan Ramsay.
Let gleaners glean, though crops be lean. 50 Pr.
Let go desire, and thou shalt lay hold on peace. Thomas à Kempis.
Let go quarrel and contention, nor embroil thyself in trouble and differences by being over-solicitous in thy own defence. Thomas à Kempis.
Let go thy hold when a great wheel runs down a hill, lest it break thy neck with following it; but the great one that goes up the hill, let him draw thee after. Lear, ii. 4.
Let grace our selfishness expel, / Our earthliness refine. Gurney.
Let her (woman) make herself her own, / To 55 give or keep, to live, and learn, and be, / All that not harms distinctive womanhood. Tennyson.
Let Hercules himself do what he may, / The cat will mew, and dog will have his day. Ham., v. 1.
Let him be kept from paper, pen, and ink; / So may he cease to write, and learn to think. Prior.
Let him count himself happy who lives remote from the gods of this world. Goethe.
Let him tak' his fling, and find oot his ain wecht (weight). Sc. Pr.
Let him that does not know you buy you. 5 Pr.
Let him that earns eat. Pr.
Let him that stole steal no more; but rather let him labour, working with his hands the thing which is good, that he may have to give to him that needeth. St. Paul.
Let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall. St. Paul.
Let him who gives say nothing, and him who receives speak. Port. Pr.
Let him who gropes painfully in darkness or 10 uncertain light, and prays vehemently that the dawn may ripen into day, lay this precept well to heart: "Do the duty which lies nearest thee," which thou knowest to be a duty! Thy second duty will already have become clearer. Carlyle.
Let him who has hold of the devil keep hold of him; he is not likely to catch him a second time in a hurry. Goethe.
Let him who is reduced to beggary first try every one and then his friend. It. Pr.
Let him who is well off stay where he is. Pr.
Let him who knows not how to pray go to sea. Pr.
Let him who sleeps too much borrow the pillow 15 of a debtor. Sp. Pr.
Let him who would move and convince others be first moved and convinced himself. Let a man but speak forth with genuine earnestness the thought, the emotion, the actual condition of his own heart, and other men, so strangely are we all knit together by the tie of sympathy, must and will give heed to him. Carlyle.
Let him who would write heroic poems make his life a heroic poem. Milton.
Let ilka ane soop (sweep) before his ain door. Sc. Pr.
Let it be your first care not to be in any man's debt. Johnson.
Let it not be grievous to thee to humble and 20 submit thyself to the capricious humours of men with whom thou conversest in this world, but rather ... endure patiently whatever they shall, but should not, do to thee. Thomas à Kempis.
Let it not be imagined that the life of a good Christian must necessarily be a life of melancholy and gloominess; for he only resigns some pleasures, to enjoy others infinitely greater. Pascal.
Let John Bull beware of John Barleycorn. Pr.
Let justice guide your feet. Hipparchus.
Let knowledge grow from more to more, / But more of reverence in us dwell. Tennyson.
Let man be noble, helpful, and good, for that 25 alone distinguishes him from every other creature we know. Goethe.
Let man's own sphere confine his view. Beattie.
Let May be oot (out) before you cast a cloot (a piece of clothing). Sc. Pr.
Let me be cruel, not unnatural; / I will speak daggers to her, but use none. / My tongue and soul in this be hypocrites. Ham., iii. 2.
Let me die to the sounds of the delicious music. Last words of Mirabeau.
Let me have men about me that are fat; / 30 Sleek-headed men, and such as sleep o' nights; / Yond' Cassius has a lean and hungry look; / He thinks too much; such men are dangerous. Jul. Cæs., i. 2.
Let me have no lying; it becomes none but tradesmen. Winter's Tale, iv. 3.
Let me keep from vice myself, and pity it in others. Goldsmith.
Let me make the ballads of a people, and I care not who makes the laws. Quoted by Fletcher of Saltoun.
Let me play the fool; / With mirth and laughter let old wrinkles come, / And let my liver rather heat with wine / Than my heart cool with mortifying groans. Mer. of Ven., i. 1.
Let me say amen betimes, lest the devil cross 35 my prayers. Mer. of Ven., iii. 1.
Let me still take away the harms I fear, / Not fear still to be taken. Lear, i. 4.
Let me tell the adventurous stranger, / In our calmness lies our danger; / Like a river's silent running, / Stillness shows our depth and cunning. Durfey.
Let me warn you very earnestly against scruples. Johnson.
Let men know that they are men, created by God, responsible to God, who work in any meanest moment of time what will last through eternity. Carlyle's version of John Knox's gospel to the Scotch.
Let men laugh when you sacrifice desire to 40 duty, if they will. You have time and eternity to rejoice in. Theodore Parker.
Let men see, let them know, a real man, who lives as he was meant to live. M. Aurelius.
Let never day nor night unhallow'd pass, / But still remember what the Lord hath done. 2 Hen. VI., ii. 1.
Let never maiden think, however fair, / She is not finer in new clothes than old. Tennyson.
Let no complaisance, no gentleness of temper, no weak desire of pleasing on your part, no wheedling, coaxing, nor flattery on other people's, make you recede one jot from any point that reason and prudence have bid you pursue. Chesterfield.
Let no man be called happy before his death. 45 Solon.
Let no man doubt the omnipotence of nature, doubt the majesty of man's soul; let no lonely unfriended son of genius despair. If he have the will, the right will, then the power also has not been denied him. Carlyle.
Let no man measure by a scale of perfection the meagre product of reality. Schiller.
Let no man think he is loved by any man, when he loves no man. Epictetus.
Let no man trust the first false step of guilt; it hangs upon a precipice, whose steep descent in last perdition ends. Young.
Let no man value at a little price a virtuous woman's counsel. George Chapman.
Let no mean spirit of revenge tempt you to throw off your loyalty to your country, and to prefer a vicious celebrity to obscurity crowned with piety and virtue. Sydney Smith.
Let no one so conceive of himself as if he were the Messiah the world was praying for. Goethe.
Let no one think that he can conquer the first impressions of his youth. Goethe.
Let no one who loves be called altogether unhappy; 5 even love unreturned has its rainbow. J. M. Barrie.
Let nobility and virtue keep company, for they are nearest of kin. William Penn.
Let none admire / That riches grow in hell; that soil may best / Deserve the precious bane. Milton.
Let none henceforth seek needless cause t' approve / The faith they owe; when earnestly they seek / Such proof, conclude they then begin to fail. Milton.
Let none presume / To wear an undeservéd dignity. Mer. of Ven., ii. 9.
Let not him that girdeth on his harness boast 10 himself as he that putteth it off. Bible.
Let not man tempt the gods, or ever desire to pry into what they graciously conceal under a veil of darkness or terror. Schiller.
Let not mercy and truth forsake thee. Bible.
Let not mirth turn to mischief. Pr.
Let not my bark in calm abide, / But win her cheerless way against the chafing tide. Keble.
Let not one enemy be few, nor a thousand 15 friends many, in thy sight. Heb. Pr.
Let not one look of fortune cast you down; / She were not fortune if she did not frown; / Such as do braveliest bear her scorns awhile / Are those on whom at last she most will smile. Orrery.
Let not plenty make you dainty. Pr.
Let not poverty part good company. Pr.
Let not the emphasis of hospitality lie in bed and board; but let truth and love and honour and courtesy flow in all thy deeds. Emerson.
Let not the grass grow on the path of friendship. 20 American-Indian Pr.
Let not the remembrance of thy former trials discourage thee. Thomas à Kempis.
Let not the sun go down upon your wrath, i.e., let it set with the sun, or, as Ruskin suggests, let it never go down so long as the wrong is there. St. Paul.
Let not thine heart be hasty to utter anything before God: for God is in heaven, and thou upon earth; therefore let thy words be few. Bible.
Let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth. Jesus.
Let not your money become your master. Pr. 25
Let not your mouth swallow you. Pr.
Let not your sail be bigger than your boat. Ben Jonson.
Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory. St. Paul.
Let nothing in excess be done; with this let all comply. Anon.
Let observation, with extensive view, / Survey 30 mankind, from China to Peru; / Remark each anxious toil, each eager strife, / And watch the busy scenes of crowded life. Johnson.
Let our finger ache, and it endues / Our other healthful members ev'n to that sense / Of pain. Othello, iii. 4.
Let pleasure be ever so innocent, the excess is always criminal. St. Evremond.
Let present rapture, comfort, ease, / As heaven shall bid them, come and go; / The secret this of rest below. Keble.
Let pride go afore, shame will follow after. Chapman, Jonson, and Marston.
Let prideful priests do battle about creeds, / 35 The Church is mine that does most Christ-like deeds. Prof. Blackie.
Let prudence number o'er each sturdy son, / Who life and wisdom at one race begun. Burns.
Let rumours be, when did not rumours fly? Tennyson.
Let sleeping dogs lie. Sc. Pr.
Let still the woman take / An elder than herself; so wears she to him, / So sways she level in her husband's heart; / For, boy, however we do praise ourselves, / Our fancies are more giddy and unfirm, / More longing, wavering, sooner lost and worn / Than women's are. Twelfth Night, ii. 4.
Let such teach others who themselves excel, / 40 And censure freely who have written well. Pope.
Let that which is lost be for God. Sp. Pr.
Let the angry person always have the quarrel to himself. Rev. John Clark.
Let the best horse leap the hedge first. Pr.
Let the cobbler stick to his last. Pr.
Let the dainty rose awhile / Her bashful fragrance 45 hide; / Rend not her silken veil too soon, / But leave her, in her own soft noon, / To flourish and abide. Keble.
Let the dead bury their dead, i.e., let the spiritually dead bury the bodily dead. Jesus.
Let the devil catch you by a hair, and you are his for ever. Lessing.
Let the devil get into the church, and he will soon be on the altar. Ger. Pr.
Let the foibles of the great rest in peace. Goldsmith.
Let the galled jade wince, our withers are unwrung. 50Let the great book of the world be your principal study. Chesterfield.
Let the great world spin forever down the ringing grooves of change. Tennyson.
Let the matter be good, and let the manner befit it. Spurgeon.
Let the night come before we praise the day. Pr.
Let the path be open to talent. Napoleon. 55 See La Carrière.
Let the reader have seen before he attempts to oversee. Carlyle.
Let the road be rough and dreary, / And its end far out of sight, / Foot it bravely! strong or weary, / "Trust in God, and do the right." Dr. Norman Macleod.
Let the shoemaker stick to his last, the peasant to his plough, and let the prince understand how to rule. Goethe.
Let the thing we do be what it will, it is the principle upon which we do it that must recommend it. Thomas à Kempis.
Let the tow (rope) gang wi' the bucket. Sc. Pr.
Let the world slide, let the world go; / A fig for care, and a fig for woe! / If I can't pay, why, I can owe, / And death makes equal the high and low. Heywood.
Let the world wag. Pr.
Let the young people mind what the old people 5 say, / And where there is danger keep out of the way. Pr.
Let them call it mischief; / When it is past and prosper'd it will be virtue. Ben Jonson.
Let them obey that know not how to rule. 2 Hen. VI., v. 1.
Let there be thistles, there are grapes; / If old things, there are new; / Ten thousand broken lights and shapes, / Yet glimpses of the true. Tennyson.
Let thine eyes look right on. Bible.
Let this be an example for the acquisition of 10 all knowledge, virtue, and riches. By the fall of drops of water, by degrees, a pot is filled. Hitopadesa.
Let those have night that love the night. Quarles.
Let those who believe in immortality enjoy their belief in silence, and give themselves no airs about it. Goethe.
Let those who hope for brighter shores no more, / Not mourn, but turning inland, bravely seek / What hidden wealth redeems the shapeless shore. Eugene Lee Hamilton.
Let thy alms go before, and keep heaven's gate / Open for thee, or both may come too late. George Herbert.
Let thy child's first lesson be obedience, and 15 the second will be what thou wilt. Ben. Franklin.
Let thy fair wisdom, not thy passion, sway. Twelfth Night, iv. 1.
Let thy great deeds force fate to change her mind; / He that courts fortune boldly, makes her kind. Dryden.
Let thy mind still be bent, still plotting where, / And when, and how thy business may be done, / Slackness breeds worms; but the sure traveller, / Though he alights sometimes, still goeth on. George Herbert.
Let thy mind's sweetness have his operation / Upon thy body, clothes, and habitation. George Herbert.
Let thy words be few. Bible. 20
Let us a little permit Nature to take her own way; she better understands her own affairs than we. Montaigne.
Let us approach our friend with an audacious trust in the truth of his heart, in the breadth, impossible to be overturned, of his foundations. Emerson.
Let us be back'd with God, and with the seas, / Which He hath given for fence impregnable, / And with these helps only defend ourselves; / In them, and in ourselves, our safety lies. 3 Hen. VI., iv. 1.
Let us be content in work / To do the thing we can, and not presume / To fret because it's little. E. B. Browning.
Let us be men with men, and always children 25 before God. Joubert.
Let us be poised, and wise, and our own to-day. Emerson.
Let us be silent, for so are the gods. Emerson.
Let us beware that our rest become not the rest of stones, which, so long as they are torrent-tossed and thunder-stricken, maintain their majesty; but when the stream is silent and the storm passed, suffer the grass to cover them and the lichen to feed upon them, and are ploughed down into dust. Ruskin.
Let us do the work of men while we bear the form of them. Ruskin
Let us endeavour to see things as they are, 30 and then inquire whether we ought to complain. Johnson.
Let us enjoy the cloven flame whilst it glows on our walls. Emerson.
Let us fear the worst, but work with faith; the best will always take care of itself. Victor Hugo.
Let us have faith that right makes might, and in that faith let us dare to do our duty as we understand it. Lincoln.
Let us have the crisis; we shall either have death or the cure. Carlyle.
Let us know what to love, and we shall know 35 also what to reject; what to affirm, and we shall know also what to deny; but it is dangerous to begin with denial and fatal to end with it. Carlyle.
Let us learn upon earth those things that can call us to heaven. St. Jerome.
Let us leave the question of origins to those who busy themselves with insoluble problems, and have nothing better to do. Goethe.
Let us make haste to live, since every day to a wise man is a new life. Sen.
Let us march intrepidly wherever we are led by the course of human accidents. Where-ever they lead us, on what coasts soever we are thrown by them, we shall not find ourselves absolutely strangers. Bolingbroke.
Let us not burden our remembrances with / 40 A heaviness that's gone. The Tempest, v. 1.
Let us not make imaginary evils when we have so many real ones to encounter. Goldsmith.
Let us not strive to rise too high, that we may not fall too low. Schiller.
Let us not throw away any of our days upon useless resentment, or contend who shall hold out longest in stubborn malignity. Johnson.
Let us th' important "now" employ, / And live as those who never die. Burns.
Let us, then, be up and doing, / With a heart 45 for every fate; / Still achieving, still pursuing, / Learn to labour and to wait. Longfellow.
Let us, then, be what we are, and speak what we think, and in all things / Keep ourselves loyal to truth and the sacred professions of friendship. Longfellow.
Let us try what esteem and kindness can effect. Johnson.
Let vain men pursue vanity; leave them to their own methods. Thomas à Kempis.
Let wealth and commerce, laws and learning die, / But leave us still our old nobility. Lord J. Manners.
Let wealth shelter and cherish unprotected merit, and the gratitude and celebrity of that merit will richly repay it. Burns.
Let whatever you are and whatever you do, grow out of a firm root of truth and a strong soil of reality. Prof. Blackie.
Let Whig and Tory stir their blood; / There must be stormy weather; / But for some true result of good, / All parties work together. Tennyson.
Let woman learn betimes to serve according 5 to her destination, for only by serving will she at last learn to rule, and attain the influence that belongs to her in the household. Goethe.
Let women spin, not preach. Pr.
Let your daily wisdom of life be in making a good use of the opportunities given you. Prof. Blackie.
Let your enemies be disarmed by the gentleness of your manner, but let them feel, at the same time, the steadiness of your just resentment. Chesterfield.
Let your literary compositions be kept from the public eye for nine years at least. Hor.
Let your pen fail, begin to trifle with blotting-paper, 10 look at the ceiling, bite your nails, and otherwise dally with your purpose, and you waste your time, scatter your thoughts, and repress the nervous energy necessary for your task. G. H. Lewes.