| James Wood, comp. Dictionary of Quotations. 1899. | | | | Beaumarchais |
| | | Be commonplace and cringing, and everything is within your reach. | 1 |
| 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. | 2 |
| Il fallait un calculateur, ce fut un danseur qui l’obtint—A financier was wanted, a dancingmaster got the post. | 3 |
| Médiocre et rampant, et l’on arrive à tout—Be second-rate and fawning, and you may attain to anything. | 4 |
| Qu’est-ce qu’un noble? Un homme qui s’est donné la peine de naître—What is a nobleman? A man who has given himself the trouble of being born. | 5 |
| Que les gens de l’esprit sont bêtes—What silly people wits are! | 6 |
| Tout finit par des chansons—Everything in the end passes into song. | 7 | | |
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