Jean de La Fontaine (1621–95) was a French poet and man of letters who chose to work in relatively unexplored genres—the fable and the verse tale, for example. His fables, compared to those of Aesop and the Pañcatantra, rank among the greatest masterpieces of French literature.
Born in Château-Thierry, Champagne, La Fontaine dedicated himself to studying the old writers and to verse writing. In 1654, he published a verse translation of Terence‘s play Eunuchus, and then went to Paris, where the French finance minister Nicolas Fouquet became his benefactor.
La Fontaine’s Fables choisies, mises en vers (1668–94; Fables, 1804) comprise 12 books of some 240 fables. They were drawn from oriental, classical, and contemporary sources. Beyond children’s literature, they embrace the sophisticated satire of conventional wisdom and morality.
In 1683, La Fontaine was elected to the Académie Française.
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Death never takes the wise man by surprise; he is always ready to go.
—Jean de La Fontaine
Topics: Death, Dying
A person often meets his destiny on the road he took to avoid it.
—Jean de La Fontaine
Topics: Fate, Self-Discovery
Sadness flies away on the wings of time.
—Jean de La Fontaine
Topics: Difficulty, Resilience
He knows the universe and does not know himself.
—Jean de La Fontaine
Topics: Self-Knowledge, Awareness
The more wary you are of danger, the more likely you are to meet it.
—Jean de La Fontaine
Topics: Optimism, Positive Attitudes
Even if misfortune is only good for bringing a fool to his senses, it would still be just to deem it good for something.
—Jean de La Fontaine
Topics: Adversity, Difficulties
Patience and time do more than strength or passion.
—Jean de La Fontaine
Topics: Time, Patience
From a distance it is something; and nearby it is nothing.
—Jean de La Fontaine
Topics: Fear, Anxiety
Beware, so long as you live, of judging men by their outward appearance.
—Jean de La Fontaine
Topics: Appearance
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