110+ Moliere Quotes (Comic, Satirical And Witty)

Molière was a French playwright and actor, born in 1622. He is best known for his comedies, such as The Misanthrope, Tartuffe, and The School for Wives. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest masters of comedy in Western literature.

Top 10 Moliere Quotes

1. It is not only for what we do that we are held responsible, but also for what we do not do.
2. All the ills of mankind, all the tragic misfortunes that fill the history books, all the political blunders, all the failures of the great leaders have arisen merely from a lack of skill at dancing.
3. I assure you, an educated fool is more foolish than an uneducated one.
4. I want people to be sincere; a man of honor shouldn't speak a single word that doesn't come straight from his heart.
5. I hate all men, the ones because they are mean and vicious, and the others for being complaisant with the vicious ones.
6. Great is the fortune of he who possesses a good bottle, a good book, and a good friend.
7. To find yourself jilted is a blow to your pride. Do your best to forget it and if you don't succeed, at least pretend to.
8. Folk whose own behavior is most ridiculous are always to the fore in slandering others.
9. If everyone were clothed with integrity, if every heart were just, frank, kindly, the other virtues would be well-nigh useless.
10. The genuine Amphitryon is the Amphitryon with whom we dine.

Moliere Short Quotes

• If Claret is the king of natural wines, Burgundy is the queen.
• A learned fool is more a fool than an ignorant fool.
• One is easily fooled by that which one loves.
• I live on good soup, not on fine words.
• Of all the noises known to man, opera is the most expensive.
• I prefer an interesting vice to a virtue that bores.
• Beauty without intelligence is like a hook without bait.
• Sharing with Jupiter is never a dishonor.
• I have the knack of easing scruples.
• Without knowledge, life is no more than the shadow of death

Moliere Famous Quotes And Sayings

The most effective way of attacking vice is to expose it to public ridicule. People can put up with rebukes but they cannot bear being laughed at: they are prepared to be wicked but they dislike appearing ridiculous. — Moliere

They [zealots] would have everybody be as blind as themselves: to them, to be clear-sighted is libertinism. — Moliere

To inspire love is a woman's greatest ambition, believe me. It's the one thing woman care about and there's no woman so proud that she does not rejoice at heart in her conquests. — Moliere

It may cost me twenty thousand francs; but for twenty thousand francs, I will have the right to rail against the iniquity of humanity, and to devote to it my eternal hatred. — Moliere

There is no reward so delightful, no pleasure so exquisite, as having one's work known and acclaimed by those whose applause confers honor. — Moliere

The art of flatterers is to take advantage of the foibles of the great, to foster their errors, and never to give advice which may annoy. — Moliere

Then worms shall try That long preserved virginity, And your quaint honor turn to dust, And into ashes all my lust. The grave's a fine and private place But none, I think, do there embrace. — Moliere

No one is safe from slander. The best way is to pay no attention to it, but live in innocence and let the world talk. — Moliere

My fair one, let us swear an eternal friendship. — Moliere

Hypocrisy is a fashionable vice, and all fashionable vices pass for virtue. — Moliere

...all the failures of the great leaders have arisen merely from a lack of skill in dancing. — Moliere

Doubts are more cruel than the worst of truths. — Moliere

Gold makes the ugly beautiful. — Moliere

The proof of true love is to be unsparing in criticism. — Moliere

According to the saying of an ancient philosopher, one should eat to live, and not live to eat — Moliere

Too great haste leads us to error. — Moliere

If you suppress grief too much, it can well redouble. — Moliere

All the satires of the stage should be viewed without discomfort. They are public mirrors, where we are never to admit that we seeourselves; one admits to a fault when one is scandalized by its censure. — Moliere

Rest assured that there is nothing which wounds the heart of a noble man more deeply than the thought his honour is assailed. — Moliere

To live without loving is not really to live. — Moliere

It is a fine seasoning for joy to think of those we love. — Moliere

Once you have the cap and gown all you need do is open your mouth. Whatever nonsense you talk becomes wisdom and all the rubbish good sense. — Moliere

There is no protection against slander. — Moliere

The scandal of the world is what makes the offence; it is not sinful to sin in silence. — Moliere

There is no secret of the heart which our actions do not disclose. — Moliere

How easy love makes fools of us. — Moliere

New-born desires, after all, have inexplicable charms, and all the pleasure of love is in variety. — Moliere

Men often marry in hasty recklessness and repent afterward all their lives. — Moliere

I have the fault of being a little more sincere than is proper. — Moliere

All right-minded people adore it; and anyone who is able to live without it is unworthy to draw breathe — Moliere

Perfect good sense shuns all extremity, content to couple wisdom with sobriety. — Moliere

When we are understood, we always speak well, and then all your fine diction serves no purpose. — Moliere

I have a heart to love all the world; and like Alexander I wish there were yet other worlds, so I could carry even further my amorous conquests. — Moliere

I find medicine is the best of all trades because whether you do any good or not you still. Get your money. — Moliere

He who follows his lessons tastes a profound peace, and looks upon everybody as a bunch of manure. — Moliere

Our minds need relaxation, and give way unless we mix with work a little play. — Moliere

One easily bears moral reproof, but never mockery. — Moliere

The maturing process of becoming a writer is akin to that of a harlot. First you do it for love, then for a few friends, and finally only for money. — Moliere

You have but to hold forth in cap and gown, and any gibberish becomes learning, all nonsense passes for sense. — Moliere

A laudation in Greek is of marvellous efficacy on the title-page of a book. — Moliere

How strange it is to see with how much passion People see things only in their own fashion! — Moliere

I will not leave you until I have seen you hanged. — Moliere

There are pretenders to piety as well as to courage. — Moliere

Esteem must be founded on preference: to hold everyone in high esteem is to esteem nothing. — Moliere

The secret to fencing consists in two things: to give and to not receive. — Moliere

Perfect reason flees all extremity, and leads one to be wise with sobriety. — Moliere

The general public is easy. You don't have to answer to anyone; and as long as you follow the rules of your profession, you needn't worry about the consequences. But the problem with the powerful and rich is that when they are sick, they really want their doctors to cure them. — Moliere

The more powerful the obstacle, the more glory we have in overcoming it; and the difficulties with which we are met are the maids of honor which set off virtue. — Moliere

Malicious tongues spread their poison abroad and nothing here below is proof against them. — Moliere

A good husband be the best sort of plaster for to cure a young woman's ailments. — Moliere

All the power is with the sex that wears the beard. — Moliere

Consistency is only suitable for ridicule. — Moliere

The road is a long one from the projection of a thing to its accomplishment. — Moliere

Frankly, it's good enough to lock up in a drawer. — Moliere

The impromptu reply is precisely the touchstone of the man of wit. — Moliere

All extremes does perfect reason flee, And wishes to be wise quite soberly. — Moliere

The envious will die, but envy never. — Moliere

It is good food and not fine words that keeps me alive. — Moliere

Virtue is the first title of nobility. — Moliere

Debts are nowadays like children begot with pleasure, but brought forth in pain. — Moliere

Birth is nothing where virtue is not — Moliere

All is wholesome in the absence of excess. — Moliere

But it is not reason that governs love. — Moliere

There is no praise to bear the sort that you put in your pocket. — Moliere

Tobacco is the passion of honest men and he who lives without tobacco is not worthy of living. — Moliere

You never see the old austerity That was the essence of civility; Young people hereabouts, unbridled, now Just want. — Moliere

No matter what Aristotle and the Philosophers say, nothing is equal to tobacco; it's the passion of the well-bred, and he who lives without tobacco lives a life not worth living. — Moliere

Good Heavens! For more than forty years I have been speaking prose without knowing it. — Moliere

The great ambition of women is to inspire love. — Moliere

There's a sort of decency among the dead, a remarkable discretion: you never find them making any complaint against the doctor who killed them! — Moliere

I recover my property wherever I find it. — Moliere

Stay awhile that we may make an end the sooner. — Moliere

Anyone may be an honorable man, and yet write verse badly. — Moliere

Malicious men may die, but malice never. — Moliere

What! Would you make no distinction between hypocrisy and devotion? Would you give them the same names, and respect the mask as you do the face? Would you equate artifice and sincerity? Confound appearance with truth? Regard the phantom as the very person? Value counterfeit as cash? — Moliere

Deference and intimacy live far apart. — Moliere

One cannot but mistrust a prospect of felicity: one must enjoy it before one can believe in it. — Moliere

As the purpose of comedy is to correct the vices of men, I see no reason why anyone should be exempt. — Moliere

I want to be distinguished from the rest; to tell the truth, a friend to all mankind is not a friend for me. — Moliere

Nothing can be fairer, or more noble, than the holy fervor of true zeal. — Moliere

Gold gives to the ugliest thing a certain charming air, For that without it were else a miserable affair. — Moliere

There is something inexpressibly charming in falling in love and, surely, the whole pleasure lies in the fact that love isn't lasting. — Moliere

[Dom Juan] believes neither in Heaven, nor the saints, nor God, nor the Werewolf. — Moliere

Music and dance are all you need. — Moliere

You are my peace, my solace, my salvation. — Moliere

Age brings about everything; but it is not the time, Madam, as we know, to be a prude at twenty. — Moliere

Its as if you think you'd never find Reason and the Sacred intertwined — Moliere

Of all human foibles love of living is the most powerful. — Moliere

The defects of human nature afford us opportunities of exercising our philosophy, the best employment of our virtues. If all men were righteous, all hearts true and frank and loyal, what use would our virtues be? — Moliere

Cultivated people should be superior to any consideration so sordid as a mercenary interest. — Moliere

Life Lessons by Moliere

1. Moliere's works often emphasize the importance of being true to oneself, and of following one's own path in life.
2. He also taught that it is important to be aware of the consequences of one's actions, and to strive to be a better person.
3. Moliere's plays often demonstrate the power of wit and humor in overcoming adversity, and the importance of being able to laugh at oneself.