- Motivational and inspirational vocabulary
- A bit of culture (famous French people)
- Pronunciation (yay!!)
- And weâre going to take a look at different sentences structures.
"Il ne faut pas attendre dâĂȘtre parfait pour commencer quelque chose de bien." - l'AbbĂ© Pierre
- Parfait – perfect
- Ătre parfait – to be perfect
- Quelque chose de bien – something good
- Attendre – to wait
- Il ne faut pasâŠ. (Do not)
- Il faut.. pour⊠(You need⊠to/forâŠ)
- Il ne faut pas fumer (Do not smoke).
- Il faut attendre pour manger le gĂąteau (You need to wait to eat the cake).
"Impose ta chance, serre ton bonheur et va vers ton risque" - René Char
René Char was a French poet. He also was part of the Résistance during the Second World War (crucial part of modern French history).
- La chance – luck
- La bonheur – happiness
- Le risque – risk
- Impose-toi ! (impose yourself)
- Vas-y ! (Go ahead)
"Tu ne seras jamais heureux si tu cherches continuellement de quoi est fait le bonheur" - Albert Camus
Ah Albert Camus, we talked a tiny bit about him in this article about books. But to summarise, he was a writer of all sort of things, notably of LâĂtranger. Also un rĂ©sistant.
He gave us plenty of inspirational quotes, but here’s the one I selected.
- Heureux – happy
- Le bonheur – happiness
- Tu ne seras jamais grand si tu ne manges pas de soupe. (Youâll never be tall if you donât eat your soup)
- Vous ĂȘtes fou si vous pensez ça. (You are crazy if you think that).
"Jâai dĂ©cidĂ© dâĂȘtre heureux parce que câest bon pour la santĂ©" - Voltaire
Oh, another big big name. Voltaire. XVIII century, the century of the Enlightenment. Voltaire was a philosopher, and influenced the ideas of the French Revolution. Important character then.
- Heureux (again) – happy
- La santĂ© – health
- Jâai soif parce quâil faut chaud. (I’m thirsty because it’s hot)
- Il est en retard parce que sa voiture est tombĂ© en panne. (He’s late because his car broke down).
- J’ai dĂ©cidĂ© de passer mon permis. (I decided to take the driving test).
- Il a décidé de ranger sa chambre. (He decided to tidy his room)
And, C’est bon pour:
- C’est bon pour le moral (It’s good for the mood)
- C’est bon pour moi (It’s good for me)
"Les portes de lâavenir sont ouvertes Ă ceux qui savent les pousser" - Coluche
Coluche! He was a very popular comedian in the 70âs and the 80âs. Just like lâAbbĂ© Pierre (although completely different in any other ways), he is a the founder of Les Restos du Coeur, the most important food aid association in France.
- Lâavenir – (lit. Ă venir – to come) – the future
- Moi, je file un rencard Ă ceux qui nâont plus rien (extract of the Resto du Coeurâs song)Â – I’m giving a date to all that don’t have anything left.
- DĂ©dicace Ă tout ceux qui viennent du 95 (French gangstastyle) – This goes out to all from the 95 (Paris Region).
"Jâaccepte la grande aventure dâĂȘtre moi" - Simone de Beauvoir
Simone de Beauvoir was philosopher. Sheâs regarded as one of the most influential French feminist figures. A great lady.
- Accepter – to accept
- Lâaventure – the adventure
- Jâaccepte de faire ça pour toi. (I accept to do that for you)
- Il a acceptĂ© de changer lâheure du rendez-vous. (He accept to change the time of the meeting).
"Nous sommes nos choix" - Jean-Paul Sartre
Jean-Paul Sartre and Simone de Beauvoir⊠One of the most influential philosophical couple of the XXth, if not THE most.
"Chaque difficultĂ© rencontrĂ©e doit ĂȘtre lâoccasion dâun nouveau progrĂšs" - Pierre de Coubertin
- Une difficultĂ© – a difficulty
- Lâoccasion – the opportunityÂ
- Le progrĂšs – progress
- Je dois partir. (I need to go)
- Il doit ĂȘtre deux heures. (It must be 2 o’clock)
- Il faut que je mâoccupe de ma chemise tĂąchĂ©e. (I need to deal with my stained shirt)
- Mets les fleurs fanées à la poubelle. (Put the dead flowers in the bin)
"Le bonheur est parfois cachĂ© dans lâinconnu" - Victor Hugo
Victor Hugo⊠We talked about him briefly in my article on the best books to learn French.
One of the most important French writers with his novels especially (Notre Dame de Paris and Les Misérables).
- Bonheur – happiness (youâll know this one by the end of the article)
- Lâinconnu – the unknown
- Parfois, je vais me coucher tĂŽt. (Sometimes, I’m going to bed early)
- Je vais me coucher tĂŽt parfois.
- Je vais parfois me coucher tĂŽt.
"La meilleure façon de rĂ©aliser ses rĂȘves est de se rĂ©veiller" - Paul ValĂ©ry
Another writer, another great mind, Paul Valéry. He might be more well known as a poet though.
- RĂ©aliser ses rĂȘves – to achieve oneâs dreams
- RĂ©aliser – to achieve / to realise
2 thoughts on “10 French motivational quotes đ to get inspired”
Bonjour! Merci beaucoup pour cette article.
Bonjour Helen, merci Ă toi pour le commentaire. Et pas de quoi đ
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