Dictionary of Quotations from Ancient and Modern, English and Foreign Sources. Rev. James Wood
que femme veut, Dieu le veut—What woman wills, God wills. Fr. Pr.
Ce qui fait qu'on n'est pas content de sa condition, 10 c'est l'idée chimérique qu'on forme du bonheur d'autrui—What makes us discontented with our condition is the absurdly exaggerated idea we have of the happiness of others. Fr. Pr.
Ce qu'il nous faut pour vaincre, c'est de l'audace, encore de l'audace, toujours de l'audace!—In order to conquer, what we need is to dare, still to dare, and always to dare. Danton.
Ce qui manque aux orateurs en profondeur, / Ils vous le donnent en longueur—What orators want in depth, they make up to you in length. Montesquieu.
Ce qui ne vaut pas la peine d'être dit, on le chante—What is not worth the trouble of being said, may pass off very fairly when it is sung. Beaumarchais.
Ce qui suffit ne fut jamais peu—What is enough was never a small quantity. Fr. Pr.
Ce qui vient de la flûte, s'en retourne au tambour—What 15 is earned by the fife goes back to the drum; easily gotten, easily gone. Fr. Pr.
Ce qu'on apprend au berceau dure jusqu'au tombeau—What is learned in the cradle lasts till the grave. Fr. Pr.
Ce qu'on fait maintenant, on le dit; et la cause en est bien excusable: on fait si peu de chose—Whatever we do now-a-days, we speak of; and the reason is this: it is so very little we do. Fr.
Cercato ho sempre solitaria vita / (Le rive il sanno, e le campagne e i boschi)—I have always sought a solitary life. (The river-banks and the open fields and the groves know it.)
Ceremonies are different in every country; but true politeness is everywhere the same. Goldsmith.
Ceremony is necessary as the outwork and 20 defence of manners. Chesterfield.
Ceremony is the invention of wise men to keep fools at a distance. Steele.
Ceremony keeps up all things; 'tis like a penny glass to a rich spirit or some excellent water; without it the water were spilt, the spirit lost. Selden.
Ceremony leads her bigots forth, / Prepared to fight for shadows of no worth; / While truths, on which eternal things depend, / Find not, or hardly find, a single friend. Cowper.
Ceremony was but devised at first / To set a gloss on faint deeds … / But where there is true friendship, there needs none. Timon of Athens, i. 2.
Cereus in vitium flecti, monitoribus asper—(Youth), 25 pliable as wax to vice, obstinate under reproof. Hor.
Cernit omnia Deus vindex—God as avenger sees all things. M.
Certa amittimus dum incerta petimus—We lose things certain in pursuing things uncertain. Plaut.
Certain defects are necessary to the existence of the individual. It would be painful to us if our old friends laid aside certain peculiarities. Goethe.
Certain it is that there is no kind of affection so purely angelic as that of a father to a daughter. In love to our wives there is desire; to our sons, ambition; but to our daughters there is something which there are no words to express. Addison.
Certe ignoratio futurorum malorum utilius est 30 quam scientia—It is more advantageous not to know than to know the evils that are coming upon us. Cic.
Certiorari—To order the record from an inferior to a superior court. L.
Certum est quia impossibile est—I am sure of it because it is impossible. Tert.
Certum pete finem—Aim at a definite end. M.
Cervantes smiled Spain's chivalry away. Byron.
Ces discours sont fort beaux dans un livre—All 35 that would be very fine in a book, i.e., in theory, but not in practice. Boileau.
Ces malheureux rois / Dont on dit tant de mal, ont du bon quelquefois—Those unhappy kings, of whom so much evil is said, have their good qualities at times. Andrieux.
Ce sont les passions qui font et qui défont tout—It is the passions that do and that undo everything. Fontenelle.
Ce sont toujours les aventuriers qui font de grandes choses, et non pas les souverains des grandes empires—It is always adventurers who do great things, not the sovereigns of great empires. Montesquieu.
Cessante causa, cessat et effectus—When the cause is removed, the effect must cease also. Coke.
Cessio bonorum—A surrender of all one's property 40 to creditors. Scots Law.
C'est-à-dire—That is to say. Fr.
C'est dans les grands dangers qu'on voit les grands courages—It is amid great perils we see brave hearts. Regnard.
C'est double plaisir de tromper le trompeur—It is a double pleasure to deceive the deceiver. La Font.
C'est fait de lui—It is all over with him. Fr.
C'est la grande formule moderne: Du travail, 45 toujours du travail, et encore du travail—The grand maxim now-a-days is: To work, always to work, and still to work. Gambetta.
C'est là le diable—There's the devil of it, i.e., there lies the difficulty. Fr.
C'est la prospérité qui donne des amis, c'est l'adversité qui les éprouve—It is prosperity that gives us friends, adversity that proves them. Fr.
C'est le chemin des passions qui m'a conduit à la philosophie—It is by my passions I have been led to philosophy. Rousseau.
C'est le commencement de la fin—It is the beginning of the end. Talleyrand on the Hundred Days.
C'est le crime qui fait honte, et non pas l'échafaud—It is the crime, not the scaffold, which is the disgrace. Corneille.
C'est le gesi paré des plumes du paon—He is 5 the jay decked with the peacock's feathers. Fr.
C'est le ton qui fait la musique—In music everything depends on the tone. Fr. Pr.
C'est le valet du diable, il fait plus qu'on ne lui ordonne—He who does more than he is bid is the devil's valet. Fr. Pr.
C'est l'imagination qui gouverne le genre humain—The human race is governed by its imagination. Napoleon.
C'est partout comme chez nous—It is everywhere the same as among ourselves. Fr. Pr.
C'est peu que de courir; il faut partir à point—It 10 is not enough to run, one must set out in time. Fr. Pr.
C'est plus qu'un crime, c'est une faute—It is worse than a crime; it is a blunder. Fouché.
C'est posséder les biens que de savoir s'en passer—To know how to dispense with things is to possess them. Regnard.
C'est son cheval de bataille—That is his forte (lit. war-horse). Fr.
C'est trop aimer quand on en meurt—It is loving too much to die of loving. Fr. Pr.