Loading AI tools
Pierre Corneille (June 6, 1606 – October 1, 1684) was a French tragedian who was one of the three great 17th-century French dramatists, along with Molière and Jean Racine. He has been called “the founder of French tragedy” and produced plays for nearly 40 years.
- La raison et l'amour sont ennemis jurés.
- Reason and love are sworn enemies.
- La nourrice, La Veuve [The Widow], (1631), act II, scene III.
- Reason and love are sworn enemies.
- I owe my fame only to myself.
- "L'Excuse à Ariste" (1637).
- I owe my fame only to myself.
- The subject of a good tragedy must not be realistic.
- Héraclius (1646), preface.
- The subject of a good tragedy must not be realistic.
- Devine, si tu peux, et choisis, si tu l'oses.
- Guess if you can, choose if you dare.
- Qui se laisse outrager, mérite qu'on l'outrage
Et l'audace impunie enfle trop un courage.- He who is insulted has a right to be outraged, as unpunished audacity only increases!
- Heraclius, act I, scene II.
- Un service au-dessus de toute récompense
À force d'obliger tient presque lieu d'offense.- A service beyond all recompense
Weighs so heavy that it almost gives offense.- Orode, Suréna (1674), act III, scene I.
- A service beyond all recompense
Le Cid (1636)
- Ses rides, sur son front, ont grave ses exploits.
- The wrinkles on his forehead are the marks which his mighty deeds have engraved.
- Don Diego, act I, scene i.
- The wrinkles on his forehead are the marks which his mighty deeds have engraved.
- L'amour est un tyran qui n'épargne personne.
- Love is a tyrant, sparing none.
- Doña Urraque, act I, scene ii.
- Love is a tyrant, sparing none.
- Pour grands que soient les rois, ils sont ce que nous sommes:
Ils peuvent se tromper comme les autres hommes.- As great as kings may be, they are what we are: they can err like other men.
- Don Gomès, act I, scene iii.
- As great as kings may be, they are what we are: they can err like other men.
- Don Diègue: Rodrigue, as-tu du coeur?
Don Rodrigue: Tout autre que mon père
L’éprouverait sur l’heure.- Don Diègue: Rodrigue, have you any courage?
Don Rodrigue: Anyone but my father
Would find out on the spot.- Act I, scene v.
- Don Diègue: Rodrigue, have you any courage?
- Qui peut vivre infâme est indigne du jour.
- He who can live in infamy is unworthy of life.
- Don Diègue, act I, scene v.
- He who can live in infamy is unworthy of life.
- Qui ne craint point la mort ne craint point les menaces.
- He who fears not death fears not a threat.
- Don Gomès, act II, scene i.
- He who fears not death fears not a threat.
- L’on peut me réduire à vivre sans bonheur,
Mais non pas me résoudre à vivre sans honneur.- I can be forced to live without happiness,
But I will never consent to live without honor.- Don Gomès, act II, scene i.
- I can be forced to live without happiness,
- Je suis jeune, il est vrai; mais aux âmes bien nées
La valeur n’attend point le nombre des années.- True, I am young, but for souls nobly born
Valor doesn’t await the passing of years.- Don Rodrigue, act II, scene ii.
- True, I am young, but for souls nobly born
- À qui venge son père, il n’est rien d’impossible.
- To he who avenges a father, nothing is impossible.
- Don Rodrigue, act II, scene ii.
- To he who avenges a father, nothing is impossible.
- À vaincre sans péril, on triomphe sans gloire.
- To conquer without risk is to triumph without glory.
- Don Gomès, act II, scene ii.
- To conquer without risk is to triumph without glory.
- Les hommes valeureux le sont du premier coup.
- Brave men are brave from the very first.
- Chimène, act II, scene iii.
- La moitié de ma vie a mis l’autre au tombeau.
- One half of my life has put the other half in the grave.
- Chimène, act III, scene iii.
- One half of my life has put the other half in the grave.
- Jamais nous ne goûtons de parfaite allégresse:
Nos plus heureux succès sont mêlés de tristesse.- We never taste a perfect joy;
Our happiest successes are mixed with sadness.- Don Diègue, act III, scene v.
- We never taste a perfect joy;
- Ô combien d’actions, combien d’exploits célèbres
Sont demeurés sans gloire au milieu des ténèbres.- Oh! how many actions, how many fabulous exploits
Remain without glory in the midst of the night.- Don Rodrigue, act IV, scene iii.
- Oh! how many actions, how many fabulous exploits
- Et le combat cessa faute de combattants.
- And the combat ceased for want of combatants.
- Don Rodrigue, act IV, scene iii.
- And the combat ceased for want of combatants.
Horace (1639)
- Horace, act II, scene iii.
- Faites votre devoir, et laissez faire aux dieux.
- Do your duty, and leave the rest to heaven.
- Le vieil Horace, act II, scene viii.
- Do your duty, and leave the rest to heaven.
- Tous maux sont pareils alors qu’ils sont extrêmes.
- All evils are equal when they are extreme.
- Sabine, act III, scene iv.
- All evils are equal when they are extreme.
- De pareils serviteurs sont les forces des rois,
Et de pareils aussi sont au-dessus des lois.- Such subjects are the very strength of kings,
And are thus above the law.- Tulle, act V, scene iii
- King Tullus forgives the hero, Horace, who has saved the state but killed his sister.
- Such subjects are the very strength of kings,
- Ta vertu met ta gloire au-dessus de ton crime.
- Your virtue raises your glory above your crime.
- Tulle, act V, scene iii.
- Your virtue raises your glory above your crime.
Cinna (1641)
As to disdain the pleasures of ruling.
Which can reveal a true monarch to the world.
- L'ambition déplaît quand elle est assouvie... Monté sur le faîte, il aspire à descendre.
- Ambition displeases when it has been sated... Having reached the peak, it aspires to descend.
- Auguste, act II, scene i.
- Ambition displeases when it has been sated... Having reached the peak, it aspires to descend.
- L'exemple souvent n'est qu'un miroir trompeur;
Et l'ordre du destin qui gêne nos pensées
N'est pas toujours écrit dans les choses passées.- An example is often a deceptive mirror,
And the order of destiny, so troubling to our thoughts,
Is not always found written in things past.- Auguste, act II, scene i.
- An example is often a deceptive mirror,
- Peu de généreux vont jusqu'à dédaigner,
Après un sceptre acquis, la douceur de régner.- After having won a scepter, few are so generous
As to disdain the pleasures of ruling.- Maxime, act II, scene i.
- After having won a scepter, few are so generous
- Le pire des États, c'est l'État populaire.
- The worst of all states is the people's state.
- Cinna, act II, scene i.
- The worst of all states is the people's state.
- La perfidie est noble envers la tyrannie.
- Treachery is noble when aimed at tyranny.
- Émilie, act III, scene iv.
- Treachery is noble when aimed at tyranny.
- Qui peut tout doit tout craindre.
- Who is all-powerful should fear everything.
- Auguste, act IV, scene ii.
- Who is all-powerful should fear everything.
- Qui pardonne aisément invite à l'offenser.
- He who pardons easily invites offense.
- Auguste, act IV, scene ii.
- He who pardons easily invites offense.
- La clémence est la plus belle marque
Qui fasse à l'univers connaître un vrai monarque.- Clemency is the noblest trait
Which can reveal a true monarch to the world.- Livie, act IV, scene iii.
- Clemency is the noblest trait
- Tous ces crimes d'État qu'on fait pour la couronne,
Le ciel nous en absout alors qu'il nous la donne.- Heaven absolves all crimes committed to gain a throne
Once Heaven gives it to us.- Livie, act V, scene ii.
- Heaven absolves all crimes committed to gain a throne
Polyeucte (1642)
- Le désir s'accroît quand l'effet se recule.
- Desire increases when fulfillment is postponed.
- Polyeucte, act I, scene i.
- Desire increases when fulfillment is postponed.
The preceding quote is famous in French because it sounds as Desire increases when the bottom recoils.
- Fuyez un ennemi qui sait votre défaut.
- Flee an enemy who knows your weakness.
- Néarque, act I, scene i.
- Flee an enemy who knows your weakness.
- À raconter ses maux souvent on les soulage.
- By speaking of our misfortunes we often relieve them.
- Stratonice, act I, scene iii.
- By speaking of our misfortunes we often relieve them.
- Sa fureur ne va qu'à briser nos autels,
Elle n'en veut qu'aux dieux, et non pas aux mortels.- Its fury aims to shatter but our altars:
It scorns only the gods and never the mortals.- Stratonice, act I, scene iii
- Referring to the early Christian church.
- Its fury aims to shatter but our altars:
- Ma raison, il est vrai, dompte mes sentiments,
Mais, quelque autorité que sur eux elle ait prise,
Elle n'y règne pas, elle les tyrannise.- My reason, it’s true, controls my feelings,
But whatever its authority,
It doesn’t rule them so much as tyrannize them.- Pauline, act II, scene ii.
- My reason, it’s true, controls my feelings,
- Je consens, ou plutôt j'aspire à ma ruine.
- I agree to, or rather aspire to, my doom.
- Polyeucte, act IV, scene ii.
- I agree to, or rather aspire to, my doom.
- Je vous aime,
Beaucoup moins que mon Dieu, mais bien plus que moi-même.- I love you much less than my God, but much more than myself.
- Polyeucte, act IV, scene iii.
- I love you much less than my God, but much more than myself.
- Plus l'effort est grand, plus la gloire en est grande.
- The greater the effort, the greater the glory.
- Pauline, act IV, scene v.
- The greater the effort, the greater the glory.
- Les chrétiens n'ont qu'un Dieu, maître absolu de tout,
De qui le seul vouloir fait tout ce qu'il résout;
Mais, si j'ose entre nous dire ce que me semble,
Les nôtres bien souvent s'accordent mal ensemble,
Et, me dût leur colère écraser à tes yeux,
Nous en avons beaucoup pour être de vrais dieux.- The Christians have one God alone, the lord
Of all, whose will unaided does what he
Resolves. But, if I dare to speak my mind,
Our gods are often ill-assorted, and
Ev'n were their wrath to strike me down at once,
There are too many to be real gods.- Sévère, act IV, scene vi. Trans. John Cairncross (1980)
- Variant of last lines: As for our gods, we have a few too many to be true.
- The Christians have one God alone, the lord
- Sans doute vos chrétiens, qu'on persécute en vain,
Ont quelque chose en eux qui surpasse l'humain:
Ils mènent une vie avec tant d'innocence,
Que le ciel leur en doit quelque reconnaissance;
Se relever plus forts, plus ils sont abattus,
N'est pas aussi l'effet des communes vertus.- Your Christians, whom one persecutes in vain,
Have something in them that surpasses the human.
They lead a life of such innocence,
That the heavens owe them some recognition:
That they arise the stronger the more they are beaten down
Is hardly the result of common virtues.- Sévère, act V, scene vi.
- Your Christians, whom one persecutes in vain,
La Mort de Pompée (The Death of Pompey) (1642)
- À force d'être juste on est souvent coupable.
- One is often guilty by being too just.
- Photin, act I, scene i.
- One is often guilty by being too just.
- Qui punit le vaincu ne craint point le vainqueur.
- He who punishes the vanquished fears not the victor.
- Photin, act I, scene i.
- He who punishes the vanquished fears not the victor.
- Ne durât-il qu'un jour, ma gloire est sans seconde
D'être du moins un jour la maîtresse du monde.- Be it only for a day, it is still a glory without equal
To be master of the world just that day.- Cléopâtre, act II, scene i.
- Be it only for a day, it is still a glory without equal
- Ma mort était ma gloire, et le destin m'en prive.
- Death was to be my glory, but destiny has refused it.
- Cornélie, act III, scene iv.
- Death was to be my glory, but destiny has refused it.
- C'est une imprudence assez commune aux rois
D'écouter trop d'avis et se tromper au choix.- It is an imprudence common to kings
To listen to too much advice and to err in their choice.- Ptolomée, act IV, scene i.
- It is an imprudence common to kings
- Comme nos intérêts, nos sentiments diffèrent.
- As our self-interests differ, so do our feelings.
- Cornélie, act V, scene ii.
- As our self-interests differ, so do our feelings.
Le Menteur (The Liar) (1643)
- La façon de donner vaut mieux que ce qu'on donne.
- The manner of giving is worth more than the gift.
- Cliton, act I, scene i.
- The manner of giving is worth more than the gift.
- Un menteur est toujours prodigue de serments.
- A liar is always lavish of oaths.
- Clariste, act III, scene v.
- A liar is always lavish of oaths.
- Les gens que vous tuez se portent assez bien.
- The people you killed seem to be in excellent health.
- Cliton, act IV, scene ii
- Cliton describing people whom a liar claims to have killed in duels.
- The people you killed seem to be in excellent health.
- Il faut bonne mémoire après qu'on a menti.
- It takes a good memory to keep up a lie.
- Cliton, act IV, scene v
- It takes a good memory to keep up a lie.
è
lkrjlrgije oeirogjsvirt9rugjsvn os9eurogin soiruogjvd;apeortpk eo
r5,punimocijo jcc xn xi hbxifugnbcxdfudg grg ihbxf sdbd ygrgbjdxfoiu
ofgj ofi hiotif gjb dofgi jhodildlf; se9586i09oirr[["p4-50y-0[p'D"Pi540-5 [fo
'Bold text'=== Nicodemus (1651) ===
- Faithless we l'on vouch Craig, et je ne drain rain.
- Have others fear you, and I will have no fear.
- Icelandic, act I, scene i.
- Have others fear you, and I will have no fear.
- Le Roi, juste et prudent, ne veut Que ce qu'il peut.
- The king, just and prudent, wants only those things which he can get.
- Laodice, act I, scene ii.
- The king, just and prudent, wants only those things which he can get.
- Et ne savez-vous plus qu'il n'est princes ni rois
Qu'elle daigne égaler à ses moindres bourgeois?- The universe has no prince or king
That it [Rome] would consider equal to its humblest citizen.- Nicomède, act I, scene ii.
- The universe has no prince or king
- Seigneur, si j'ai raison, qu'importe à qui je sois?
- Sir, what does it matter whom I serve, so long as I am right?
- Nicomède, act I, scene ii.
- Sir, what does it matter whom I serve, so long as I am right?
- Il m'a trop bien servi;
Augmentant mon pouvoir, il me l'a tout ravi:
II n'est plus mon sujet qu'autant qu'il le veut être.
Et qui me fait régner en effet est mon maître.- He has served me too well;
By increasing my power he has stolen it away:
He is now my subject only so long as he pleases.
He who allows me to rule is in fact my master.- Prusias, act II, scene i.
- He has served me too well;
- C'est un crime d'État que d'en pouvoir commettre.
- It is a crime against the State to be powerful enough to commit one.
- Araspe, act II, scene i.
- It is a crime against the State to be powerful enough to commit one.
- Je ne veux point de rois qui sachent obéir.
- I would not like a king who could obey.
- Laodice, act III, scene ii.
- I would not like a king who could obey.
- Qui fait le conseiller n'est plus ambassadeur.
- He who plays advisor is no longer ambassador.
- Nicomède, act III, scene iii.
- He who plays advisor is no longer ambassador.
- Ma générosité cède enfin à sa haine.
- My generosity finally cedes to her hatred.
- Nicomède, act III, scene iv.
- My generosity finally cedes to her hatred.
- C'est n'avoir pas perdu tout votre temps à Rome,
Que vous savoir ainsi défendre en galant homme:
Vous avez de l'esprit, si vous n'avez du cœur.- You haven’t wasted all your time in Rome,
Since you know how to defend yourself so gallantly:
You have wit, even if you haven’t courage.- Nicomède, act III, scene vi.
- You haven’t wasted all your time in Rome,
- Un véritable roi n'est ni mari ni père;
Il regarde son trône, et rien de plus.- A true king is neither husband nor father;
He considers his throne and nothing else.- Nicomède, act IV, scene iii.
- A true king is neither husband nor father;
Sertorius (1662)
- On a peine à haïr ce qu'on a bien aimé,
Et le feu mal éteint est bientôt rallumé.- It is hard to hate what one has loved,
And a half-extinguished fire is soon relit.- Sertorius, act I, scene iii.
- It is hard to hate what one has loved,
- Rome seule aujourd'hui peut résister à Rome.
- Rome alone can resist Rome.
- Viriate, act II, scene i.
- Rome alone can resist Rome.
- Ils etaient plus que rois; ils sont moindres qu'esclaves.
- They were more than kings, now they are less than slaves.
- Sertorius, act III, scene i
- Sertorius describes Roman citizens after they had fallen under tyranny.
- They were more than kings, now they are less than slaves.
- Rome n'est plus dans Rome, elle est toute où je suis.
- Rome is no longer in Rome, it is here where I am.
- Sertorius, act III, scene i.
- Rome is no longer in Rome, it is here where I am.
Tite et Bérénice (Titus and Berenice) (1670)
- L'amour-propre est la source en nous de tous les autres.
- Self-love is the source of all our other loves.
- Albin, act I, scene iii.
- Self-love is the source of all our other loves.
- Qui se vainc une fois peut se vaincre toujours.
- They who overcome their desires once can overcome them always.
- Domitien, act II, scene ii.
- They who overcome their desires once can overcome them always.
- Me puis-je mieux venger, si vous me trahissez,
Que d'aimer à vos yeux ce que vous haïssez?- If you betray me, can I take a better revenge
Than to love the person you hate?- Domitien, act IV, scene iii.
- If you betray me, can I take a better revenge
- Un monarque a souvent des lois à s'imposer;
Et qui veut pouvoir tout ne doit pas tout oser.- A monarch must sometimes rule even himself:
He who wants everything must risk very little.- Tite, act IV, scene v.
- A monarch must sometimes rule even himself:
- Chaque instant de la vie est un pas vers la mort.
- Each instant of life is a step toward death.
- Tite, act V, scene i.
- Each instant of life is a step toward death.
Wikiwand in your browser!
Seamless Wikipedia browsing. On steroids.
Every time you click a link to Wikipedia, Wiktionary or Wikiquote in your browser's search results, it will show the modern Wikiwand interface.
Wikiwand extension is a five stars, simple, with minimum permission required to keep your browsing private, safe and transparent.
