Il possède une fortune en bien-fonds = He has a fortune in landed property.
Il a placé son argent à fonds perdu = He sank his money in an annuity.
*“Travaillez, prenez de la peine;
C’est le fonds qui manque le moins” =
Work and take pains, that you can always do.
Hard work and pain
Are ne’er in vain.
[La Fontaine, Fables, v. 9.]
Fontaine
*Il ne faut pas dire, “Fontaine, je ne boirai pas de ton eau” = One must never be sure of not wanting some one (or, something).
[Compare the proverb that Alfred de Musset took for the title of one of his Proverbes: “Il ne faut jurer de rien.”]
Force
Tu me payeras de gré ou de force = You shall pay me, whether you like it or not.
Hugo est un romantique dans toute la force du terme = Hugo is a romanticist in the full sense of the word.
Je suis à bout de force = I am exhausted, played out.