Le congrès ne marche pas; il danse—The Congress does not advance; it dances. The Prince de Ligne of the Vienna Congress.
Le conquérant est craint, le sage est estimé, / Mais le bienfaiteur plait, et lui seul est aimé—The conqueror is held in awe, the sage is esteemed, but it is the benevolent man who wins our affections and is alone beloved. Fr.
Le conseil manque à l'âme, / Et le guide au chemin—The soul wants counsel, and the road a guide. Fr.
Le contraire des bruits qui courent des affaires, ou des personnes, est souvent la vérité—The converse of what is currently reported about things and people is often the truth. La Bruyère.
Le contrat du gouvernement est tellement dissous 10 par despotisme que le despot n'est le maître qu'aussi long temps qu'il est le plus fort; et que si tôt qu'on peut l'expulser, il n'a point à réclaimer contre la violence—The contract of government is so dissolved by despotism, that the despot is master only so long as he is the strongest, and that as soon as there is power to expel him, he has no right to protest against the violent proceeding. Rousseau.
Le corps politique, aussi bien que le corps de l'homme, commence à mourir dès sa naissance, et porte en lui-même les causes de sa destruction—The body politic, like the body of man, begins to die as soon as it is born, and bears within it the seeds of its own dissolution. Rousseau.
Le cose non sono come sono, ma come si vedono—Things are not as they are, but as they are regarded. It. Pr.
Le courage est souvent un effet de la peur—Courage is often an effect of fear. Fr. Pr.
Le coûte en ôte le goût—The cost takes away from the relish. Fr. Pr.
Le cri d'un peuple heureux est la seule éloquence 15 qui doit parler des rois—The acclaim of a happy people is the only eloquence which ought to speak in the behalf of kings.