# Molière's most famous lines

The lines from Molière's plays that became part of the French language, from Tartuffe to Scapin, with the play and the character who says each one.

- 7 votes · 12 items
- Apr 17, 2024 · Théo Rousseau
- https://even.best/en/l/1789/moliere-s-most-famous-lines

## Top 12

1. **What the devil was he doing in that galley?** (1 · ▲1 ▼0) — Géronte in Scapin the Schemer (1671), Act II. Still said of anyone caught in a mess.
2. **Cover that bosom, which I must not see.** (1 · ▲1 ▼0) — Tartuffe to Dorine in Tartuffe (1664), Act III: the hypocrite's most famous line.
3. **Ah! Though I am devout, I am no less a man.** (1 · ▲1 ▼0) — Tartuffe to Elmire in Tartuffe (1664), Act III.
4. **If the cap fits, wear it. (Literally: whoever feels snotty, let him blow his nose.)** (1 · ▲1 ▼0) — La Flèche in The Miser (1668), Act I.
5. **I want people to be sincere, and, as men of honour, never say a word that doesn't come from the heart.** (1 · ▲1 ▼0) — Alceste to Philinte in The Misanthrope (1666), Act I.
6. **He who wants to drown his dog accuses it of rabies.** (1 · ▲1 ▼0) — Martine in The Learned Ladies (1672), Act II: any excuse will do to get rid of someone.
7. **It is a strange business, making decent people laugh.** (1 · ▲1 ▼0) — Dorante in The Critique of The School for Wives (1663): Molière defending comedy.
8. **One must eat to live, not live to eat.** (0 · ▲0 ▼0) — Valère in The Miser (1668), Act III.
9. **A friend of all mankind is no friend of mine.** (0 · ▲0 ▼0) — Alceste in The Misanthrope (1666), Act I.
10. **A learned fool is more of a fool than an ignorant one.** (0 · ▲0 ▼0) — Clitandre in The Learned Ladies (1672), Act IV.
11. **Nearly all men die of their remedies, not of their illnesses.** (0 · ▲0 ▼0) — Béralde in The Imaginary Invalid (1673), Act III, Molière's last play.
12. **The ancients, sir, are the ancients, and we are the people of today.** (0 · ▲0 ▼0) — Angélique in The Imaginary Invalid (1673), Act II.

How is this ranking ordered? By people's votes: each ▲ adds a point and each ▼ takes one away. Anyone can vote and add what is missing.