Famous Quotes — French Figures

Question 1

Question 1 : "Those who live are those who fight." — Who is the author?

Possible answers:

Victor Hugo
Émile Zola
Lamartine
Musset

Answer

A verse from Les Châtiments (1853) by Victor Hugo, written in exile against the regime of Napoleon III.

Question 2

Question 2 : "The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes, but in having new eyes." — Who is the author?

Possible answers:

Albert Camus
Romain Gary
André Gide
Marcel Proust

Answer

A quote from The Prisoner (In Search of Lost Time) by Proust: to travel is to see with different eyes.

Question 3

Question 3 : "Culture is what remains when you have forgotten everything." — Who is the author?

Possible answers:

Jean Cocteau
André Malraux
Édouard Herriot
Charles de Gaulle

Answer

A saying by Édouard Herriot, French politician and academician, often quoted in debates on education.

Question 4

Question 4 : "Love does not consist of gazing at each other, but in looking outward together in the same direction." — Who is the author?

Possible answers:

Victor Hugo
Aragon
Prévert
Saint-Exupéry

Answer

An excerpt from Wind, Sand and Stars (1939) by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry.

Question 5

Question 5 : "Idiots dare anything. That's even how you recognize them." — Who wrote this line?

Possible answers:

Pierre Desproges
Raymond Devos
Coluche
Michel Audiard

Answer

An iconic line by Lino Ventura in Les Tontons flingueurs (1963), written by Michel Audiard.

Question 6

Question 6 : "Impossible is not French." — Who is this quote attributed to?

Possible answers:

De Gaulle
Victor Hugo
Richelieu
Napoleon

Answer

A saying attributed to Napoleon Bonaparte, reflecting his unwavering will and French ambition.

Question 7

Question 7 : "A pessimist is a well-informed optimist." — Who is the author?

Possible answers:

Alphonse Allais
Sacha Guitry
Pierre Dac
Coluche

Answer

An aphorism by Pierre Dac, French humorist and resistance fighter, master of the absurd.

Question 8

Question 8 : "Happy is he who, like Ulysses, has made a fine journey." — Who is the author?

Possible answers:

Joachim du Bellay
François Villon
Pierre de Ronsard
Clément Marot

Answer

A sonnet from Les Regrets (1558) by Du Bellay, written during his stay in Rome, expressing nostalgia for France.

Question 9

Question 9 : "Speech was given to man to disguise his thoughts." — Who is the author?

Possible answers:

Richelieu
Talleyrand
Machiavelli
Voltaire

Answer

A saying by diplomat Charles-Maurice de Talleyrand, master of the art of negotiation and ambiguity.

Question 10

Question 10 : "Truth is on the march and nothing will stop it." — Who is the author?

Possible answers:

Clemenceau
Victor Hugo
Émile Zola
Jean Jaurès

Answer

A phrase by Émile Zola during the Dreyfus affair (1897), even before the publication of "J'accuse".

Question 11

Question 11 : "Twenty times upon your work, put it back on the loom." — Who is the author?

Possible answers:

La Fontaine
Molière
Boileau
Racine

Answer

A verse from L'Art poétique (1674) by Nicolas Boileau, advocating hard work and rewriting.

Question 12

Question 12 : "I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it." — Who is this attributed to?

Possible answers:

Rousseau
Voltaire (attributed)
Montesquieu
Diderot

Answer

A phrase summarizing Voltaire's thinking, actually coined by his biographer Evelyn Beatrice Hall in 1906.

Question 13

Question 13 : "You can laugh about anything, but not with just anyone." — Who is the author?

Possible answers:

Pierre Desproges
Guy Bedos
Fernand Raynaud
Coluche

Answer

A maxim by Pierre Desproges, defining the limits of humor by context rather than subject.

Question 14

Question 14 : "If you give technocrats the Sahara, in five years they'll have to buy sand elsewhere." — Who said this?

Possible answers:

Fernand Raynaud
Coluche
Thierry Le Luron
Guy Bedos

Answer

This satirical quote is typical of Coluche (1944-1986), a French comedian and actor. Founder of Les Restos du Cœur in 1985, he used humor to denounce the absurdities of power.

Question 15

Question 15 : "Hypocrisy is a tribute that vice pays to virtue." — Who is the author?

Possible answers:

Pascal
Montesquieu
La Bruyère
La Rochefoucauld

Answer

This maxim comes from the Maxims (1665) by the Duke of La Rochefoucauld (1613-1680), a French moralist. His incisive reflections on human nature remain among the most quoted in French literature.

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