Table Of Contents
- French quotes about death From Famous French Figures
- 1- “Ceux qui vivent sont ceux qui luttent ; ceux qui meurent en luttant sont les seuls qui vivent.” – Victor Hugo – writer
- 2- “La mort est plus douce que la vie n’a été amère.” – Blaise Pascal – writer
- 3- “Nous ne pouvons regarder la mort en face parce qu’elle est insupportable à nos yeux.” – François de La Rochefoucauld – writer
- 4- ” “Il n’y a qu’un problème philosophique vraiment sérieux : c’est le suicide.”– Albert Camus – philosopher
- 5- “Je m’en vais, mais l’État demeurera toujours.” – Louis XIV (attributed)- King of France
- 6- “La mort et le bûcheron. Un pauvre bûcheron tout couvert de ramées, sous le faix du fagot aussi bien que des ans gémissant et courbé marchait à pas pesants, et tâchait de gagner sa chaumière enfumée.”– Jean de La Fontaine – philosopher
- 7- “La vraie vie est absente. Nous ne sommes pas au monde. Je vais où je vais, je suis bien. J’entre aux climats du ciel éternel, je suis libre. Et la mort à jamais morte.” – Arthur Rimbaud – writer
- 8- “La vie est un jeu de malheureux; la mort est un port pour tous les hommes.” – Voltaire – Philosopher
- 9- “Si on n’avait point de vieillesse, on mourrait sans rien savoir; il y aurait trop de disproportion entre les divers états de la vie.” – Montesquieu -writer
- 10- “La vie est un jeu de malheureux; la mort est un port pour tous les hommes.” – Voltaire – writer
- 11- “Si on n’avait point de vieillesse, on mourrait sans rien savoir; il y aurait trop de disproportion entre les divers états de la vie.” – Montesquieu – writer
- 12- “La mort est un état de non-existence. Ce qui n’est pas n’existe pas. Donc la mort n’existe pas.” – Gustave Flaubert – Actor
- 13- “La mort n’est rien, mais vivre vaincu et sans gloire, c’est mourir tous les jours.”– Napoleon Bonaparte -Actor
- 14- “ “La réalité pourrait très bien être simultanément autre chose sans cesser d’être elle-même, la mort être la vie, et la vie la mort.” – Marcel Proust – Poet
- 15- “La mort a des rigueurs à nulle autre pareilles; on a beau la prier, la cruelle qu’elle est se bouche les oreilles et nous laisse crier.” – Charles Baudelaire – Poet
- 16- “La mort est le commencement de l’immortalité.” – Honoré de Balzac – writer
- 17- “La mort est un état de non-réception.” – Paul Valéry – philosopher
- 18- “La première chose qu’on doit exiger d’un mort, c’est d’être mort. La deuxième, c’est de ne pas l’être trop.”– Georges Bernanos – philosopher
- 19- “C’est une drôle de chose la mort… Vous vivez toute votre vie pour l’attendre et quand elle arrive enfin, vous ne savez pas comment l’accueillir.” – Antoine de Saint-Exupéry – writer
- 20- “Je ne crois ni à ce qu’on appelle la mort, ni à une vie transcendante. Mourir est aussi naturel que vivre.” – Simone de Beauvoir -writer
- 21- “La mort est le droit de chaque vie.”– Marguerite Yourcenar – Actor
- 22- “La mort, c’est le commencement de quelque chose.” – Guy de Maupassant – Writer
- 23- “On revient toujours à son premier amour. Il arrive que l’on rencontre sa mort là où on l’a rencontrée la première fois.” – Jules Verne – Writer
- 24- “Il n’y a que les morts qui ne reviennent pas.” – Victorien Sardou – Author
- 25- “Le vrai moyen de ne pas mourir, c’est de faire en sorte qu’on ne puisse pas oublier que nous avons vécu.” – Pierre Corneille – Poet
- 26- “La mort n’est rien d’autre qu’un passage de la misère à la joie.” – Mother Teresa – Philosopher
- 27- “Il n’y a pas de mort naturelle : rien de ce qui arrive à l’homme n’est naturel puisque sa présence sur la terre n’est pas due au hasard.” – Paul Éluard – Poet
- 28- “La mort est une porte qui donne sur une cour où il n’y a ni jardin, ni lumière, ni parfum.”– Stendhal – Writer
- 29- “Il est déjà trop tard lorsque la mort se rappelle à notre souvenir.”– André Gide – Writer
- French Quotes about death from famous international figures :
- 30- “Être, ou ne pas être, telle est la question: Est-il plus noble d’endurer tous les coups de la fortune outrageante, Ou de prendre les armes contre une mer de troubles, Et en les affrontant, y mettre fin? Mourir, dormir.” – William Shakespeare – Author
- 31 “La peur de la mort découle de la peur de la vie. Un homme qui vit pleinement est prêt à mourir à tout moment.” – Mark Twain – Author
- 32- “Vivre comme si vous deviez mourir demain. Apprendre comme si vous deviez vivre pour toujours.” – Mahatma Gandhi -Guide
- 33- “Je ne crains pas la mort, mais je ne suis pas pressé de mourir. J’ai tant de choses à faire avant.” – Albert Einstein – Scientific
- 34- “Après tout, pour une esprit bien organisé, la mort n’est qu’une aventure de plus.” – J.K. Rowling – Author
- 35- “La mort est la destination la plus probable à laquelle nous finissons tous. La mort est l’innovation de la vie. C’est la façon dont la vie élimine les anciennes pour faire place aux nouvelles.” – Steve Jobs – Business Man
- 36- “Chaque homme est l’auteur de sa propre vie jusqu’à ce qu’il soit face à face avec la mort.” – Ernest Hemingway – Writer
- 37- “Je suis prêt à rencontrer mon Créateur. Quant à savoir s’il est préparé à l’épreuve de me voir, c’est une autre question.” – Winston Churchill – Politic
- 38- “Pour beaucoup, la mort est plus terrifiante que la vie, mais pour moi, la vie est bien plus effrayante que la mort.” – Oscar Wilde – Poet
- 39- “La mort ne fait peur qu’à ceux qui n’ont pas su vivre.” – Eleanor Roosevelt – writer
- 40- “Nous devons apprécier la vie pendant que nous l’avons, car la mort est juste une autre phase de la vie.” – Confucius – philosopher
- 41- “La vie est agréable. La mort est paisible. C’est la transition qui est difficile.‘’ – Isaac Asimov – Writer
- 42- “La mort peut être la plus grande des bénédictions humaines.’’– Socrate – philosopher
- 43- “Je ne crains pas la mort, je veux juste ne pas être là quand ça arrivera.’’ – Woody Allen – Author
- 44- “La mort est notre mariage avec l’éternité.’’ – Rumi – Poet
- 45- “La mort est un changement; où il y a un changement, il y a la nature.’’ – Marcus Aurelius – Philosopher
- 46- “Pour la vie et la mort sont une seule chose, tout comme le fleuve et la mer ne font qu’un.’’- Khalil Gibran – Poet
- 47- “La frontière entre la vie et la mort est à la fois moins claire et plus importante que jamais.’’ – Edgar Allan Poe – Poet
- What is a famous French quote about death?
- What is a famous French quote about life?
Hello friends!
We’re embarking on yet another adventure.
On another occasion, I suggested some quotes (77!) about life.
Well, now! This time we’re going one step further.
I have put together a selection of French quotes about death :
- from French figures (original quotes are in French)
- from international figures
Discover them by reading my post.
Enjoy !
Read also: 29 French Quotes About Food
French quotes about death From Famous French Figures
Here is some quotes about death from famous French figures : writers, philosophers, poets…etc
1- “Ceux qui vivent sont ceux qui luttent ; ceux qui meurent en luttant sont les seuls qui vivent.” – Victor Hugo – writer
English translation: Those who live are those who struggle; those who die struggling are the only ones who live.
My personal interpretation: With this quote, Victor Hugo is simply saying that there’s more to life than breathing. You have to fight for a cause to live.
2- “La mort est plus douce que la vie n’a été amère.” – Blaise Pascal – writer
English translation: Death is sweeter than life has been bitter.
My personal interpretation: With this quote, we can understand that life is a world full of difficulties, while death liberates man.
3- “Nous ne pouvons regarder la mort en face parce qu’elle est insupportable à nos yeux.” – François de La Rochefoucauld – writer
English translation: We cannot look death in the face because it is unbearable to our eyes.
My personal interpretation: Death is a universe no one would like to visit, because it is unbearable to human eyes.
4- ” “Il n’y a qu’un problème philosophique vraiment sérieux : c’est le suicide.”– Albert Camus – philosopher
English translation: There’s only one really serious philosophical problem: it’s suicide.
My personal interpretation: For this thinker, suicide is an escape for those who have no ambition in life.
5- “Je m’en vais, mais l’État demeurera toujours.” – Louis XIV (attributed)- King of France
English translation: I’m leaving, but the state will always remain.
My personal interpretation: with this quote, Louis is making a distinction between the physical and the political body. The physical body disappears, but the political body is eternal.
6- “La mort et le bûcheron. Un pauvre bûcheron tout couvert de ramées, sous le faix du fagot aussi bien que des ans gémissant et courbé marchait à pas pesants, et tâchait de gagner sa chaumière enfumée.”– Jean de La Fontaine – philosopher
English translation: Death and the woodcutter. A poor woodcutter all covered with twig, under the burden of the faggot as well as the years groaning and bent walked with heavy steps, and tried to gain his smoky cottage.
My personal interpretation: For Jean de la Fontaine, life is fleeting, and it’s important to make the most of every moment you have while you’re alive.
7- “La vraie vie est absente. Nous ne sommes pas au monde. Je vais où je vais, je suis bien. J’entre aux climats du ciel éternel, je suis libre. Et la mort à jamais morte.” – Arthur Rimbaud – writer
English translation: Real life is absent. We are not in the world. I go where I go, I am well. I enter the climes of eternal heaven, I am free. And death forever dead.
My personal interpretation: For him, life as we live it is superficial. It doesn’t reflect true life in its own terms. What’s more, he doesn’t see death as a definitive end, seeing it as a continuation of life.
8- “La vie est un jeu de malheureux; la mort est un port pour tous les hommes.” – Voltaire – Philosopher
English translation: Life is a game for the unfortunate; death is a port for all men.
My personal interpretation: Life is a difficult world for man, while death is a deliverance.
English translation: If we had no old age, we would die without knowing anything; there would be too much disproportion between the various states of life.
My personal interpretation: For this thinker, old age is an important stage that every man must pass through before his death if his life is to be complete. He goes on to say that no one who dies without passing through old age has lived a complete life.
10- “La vie est un jeu de malheureux; la mort est un port pour tous les hommes.” – Voltaire – writer
English translation: Life is a game for the unfortunate; death is a port for all men.
My personal interpretation: Life is a difficult world for man, while death is a deliverance.
English translation: If we had no old age, we would die without knowing anything; there would be too much disproportion between the various states of life.
My personal interpretation: For this thinker, old age is an important stage that every man must pass through before his death if his life is to be complete. He goes on to say that no one who dies without passing through old age has lived a complete life.
12- “La mort est un état de non-existence. Ce qui n’est pas n’existe pas. Donc la mort n’existe pas.” – Gustave Flaubert – Actor
English translation: Death is a state of non-existence. That which is not does not exist. Therefore death does not exist.”
My personal interpretation: For him, there are no more existences after death, so death means the end of a life.
13- “La mort n’est rien, mais vivre vaincu et sans gloire, c’est mourir tous les jours.”– Napoleon Bonaparte -Actor
English translation: Death is nothing, but to live defeated and without glory is to die every day.
My personal interpretation: This quote just expresses that life is a struggle. Anyone who lives without a goal dies slowly.
14- “ “La réalité pourrait très bien être simultanément autre chose sans cesser d’être elle-même, la mort être la vie, et la vie la mort.” – Marcel Proust – Poet
English translation: Reality could very well be simultaneously something else without ceasing to be itself, death being life, and life death.”
My personal interpretation: Marcel, the thinker, challenges the notion of reality by saying that it’s not just life and death.
15- “La mort a des rigueurs à nulle autre pareilles; on a beau la prier, la cruelle qu’elle est se bouche les oreilles et nous laisse crier.” – Charles Baudelaire – Poet
English translation: Death has a rigor like no other; no matter how hard we pray to it, the cruelty of death blocks our ears and lets us cry out.
My personal interpretation: For Baudelaire, prayer is not a way to save oneself from death. Death is just a cruel world that cannot be avoided.
16- “La mort est le commencement de l’immortalité.” – Honoré de Balzac – writer
English translation: Death is the beginning of immortality.
My personal interpretation: For him, we become immortal as soon as we pass death, because for him there is another existence after death.
17- “La mort est un état de non-réception.” – Paul Valéry – philosopher
English translation: Death is a state of non-reception.
My personal interpretation: Through his quotation, Paul makes it clear that death is a world in which all sensation is lost.
18- “La première chose qu’on doit exiger d’un mort, c’est d’être mort. La deuxième, c’est de ne pas l’être trop.”– Georges Bernanos – philosopher
English translation: The first thing one must demand of a dead man is to be dead. The second is not to be too dead.
My personal interpretation: As soon as you die, the first question you ask yourself is why did you die, but the wish is that you will live forever in your new world.
19- “C’est une drôle de chose la mort… Vous vivez toute votre vie pour l’attendre et quand elle arrive enfin, vous ne savez pas comment l’accueillir.” – Antoine de Saint-Exupéry – writer
English translation: It’s a funny thing, death… You live your whole life waiting for it, and when it finally comes, you don’t know how to welcome it.”
My personal interpretation: We all live preparing for our death, but when it comes don’t know it.
20- “Je ne crois ni à ce qu’on appelle la mort, ni à une vie transcendante. Mourir est aussi naturel que vivre.” – Simone de Beauvoir -writer
English translation: I believe neither in what is called death, nor in a transcendent life. Dying is as natural as living.
My personal interpretation: For him, death doesn’t exist, it’s just another form of life.
21- “La mort est le droit de chaque vie.”– Marguerite Yourcenar – Actor
English translation: Death is the right of every life.
My personal interpretation: When living beings must die.
22- “La mort, c’est le commencement de quelque chose.” – Guy de Maupassant – Writer
English translation: Death is the beginning of something.
My personal interpretation: Death is the beginning of another existence.
23- “On revient toujours à son premier amour. Il arrive que l’on rencontre sa mort là où on l’a rencontrée la première fois.” – Jules Verne – Writer
English translation: One always returns to one’s first love. Sometimes you meet your death where you first met it.”
My personal interpretation: With this quote, Jules makes it clear that man’s first love is death, and we meet it at birth.
24- “Il n’y a que les morts qui ne reviennent pas.” – Victorien Sardou – Author
English translation: Il n’y a que les morts qui ne reviennent pas.”
My personal interpretation: For him, there’s more than one life after death.
25- “Le vrai moyen de ne pas mourir, c’est de faire en sorte qu’on ne puisse pas oublier que nous avons vécu.” – Pierre Corneille – Poet
English translation: The real way not to die is to make sure we can’t forget that we ever lived.”
My personal interpretation: The only way to be immortal is to mark your existence with works.
26- “La mort n’est rien d’autre qu’un passage de la misère à la joie.” – Mother Teresa – Philosopher
English translation: Death is nothing but a passage from misery to joy.
My personal interpretation: Life is a misery, but death enables man to leave this misery and enter a soothing world.
27- “Il n’y a pas de mort naturelle : rien de ce qui arrive à l’homme n’est naturel puisque sa présence sur la terre n’est pas due au hasard.” – Paul Éluard – Poet
English translation: There is no such thing as natural death: nothing that happens to man is natural, since his presence on earth is not due to chance.
My personal interpretation: As soon as man is born, death is already present in his life. This being the case, it cannot be considered a natural phenomenon, for where there is life, there is death.
28- “La mort est une porte qui donne sur une cour où il n’y a ni jardin, ni lumière, ni parfum.”– Stendhal – Writer
English translation: Death is a door that opens onto a courtyard where there is neither garden, nor light, nor perfume.
My personal interpretation: Death is a world in which nothing lives. Everything stops at death.
29- “Il est déjà trop tard lorsque la mort se rappelle à notre souvenir.”– André Gide – Writer
English translation: It’s already too late when death remembers us.
My personal interpretation: For André, Man must be aware from birth that he must die.
French Quotes about death from famous international figures :
Now some quotes about Death from famous international figures : authors, philosophers, politics,
30- “Être, ou ne pas être, telle est la question: Est-il plus noble d’endurer tous les coups de la fortune outrageante, Ou de prendre les armes contre une mer de troubles, Et en les affrontant, y mettre fin? Mourir, dormir.” – William Shakespeare – Author
English translation : To be, or not to be, that is the question: Is it nobler to endure all the blows of outrageous fortune, Or to take arms against a sea of troubles, And by facing them, put an end to them? To die, to sleep.
My personal interpretation: At first, William sees the existence of life as a choice between life and death; then, for him, to die is to sleep, and an end to the suffering of life.
31 “La peur de la mort découle de la peur de la vie. Un homme qui vit pleinement est prêt à mourir à tout moment.” – Mark Twain – Author
English translation: The fear of death arises from the fear of life. A man who lives fully is ready to die at any moment.”
My personal interpretation: Life and death are two things that go hand in hand, and man spends his existence with both.
32- “Vivre comme si vous deviez mourir demain. Apprendre comme si vous deviez vivre pour toujours.” – Mahatma Gandhi -Guide
English translation: Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever.
My personal interpretation: For this thinker, it’s better to enjoy every moment of your life, because death can come at any moment.
33- “Je ne crains pas la mort, mais je ne suis pas pressé de mourir. J’ai tant de choses à faire avant.” – Albert Einstein – Scientific
English translation: I don’t fear death, but I’m in no hurry to die. I have so many things to do first.”
My personal interpretation: Through his thinking, Albert expects death, but before that, he prefers to concentrate on his existence and get things done.
34- “Après tout, pour une esprit bien organisé, la mort n’est qu’une aventure de plus.” – J.K. Rowling – Author
English translation: After all, for a well-organized mind, death is just another adventure.
My personal interpretation: For a man who knows that when you live, you die, death must be just another adventure in his existence.
35- “La mort est la destination la plus probable à laquelle nous finissons tous. La mort est l’innovation de la vie. C’est la façon dont la vie élimine les anciennes pour faire place aux nouvelles.” – Steve Jobs – Business Man
English translation: Death is the most likely destination to which we all end up. Death is life’s innovation. It is life’s way of eliminating the old to make room for the new.
My personal interpretation: Death is a universe we will all pass through, because life and death go together.
36- “Chaque homme est l’auteur de sa propre vie jusqu’à ce qu’il soit face à face avec la mort.” – Ernest Hemingway – Writer
English translation: Every man is the author of his own life until he comes face to face with death.
My personal interpretation: When we live, we are masters of ourselves, but we lose all control when we die.
37- “Je suis prêt à rencontrer mon Créateur. Quant à savoir s’il est préparé à l’épreuve de me voir, c’est une autre question.” – Winston Churchill – Politic
English translation: I am ready to meet my Creator. Whether he is prepared for the ordeal of seeing me is another matter.
My personal interpretation: For him, life comes from the Creator, and death is a passage through which he can meet Him. But the question he asks himself is whether his hour will really be the one his Creator would have wished for him.
38- “Pour beaucoup, la mort est plus terrifiante que la vie, mais pour moi, la vie est bien plus effrayante que la mort.” – Oscar Wilde – Poet
English translation: For many, death is more terrifying than life, but for me, life is far more frightening than death.
My personal interpretation: For some, death is scarier than life. But for this thinker, life is scarier because it’s hard to live.
39- “La mort ne fait peur qu’à ceux qui n’ont pas su vivre.” – Eleanor Roosevelt – writer
English translation: Death only scares those who haven’t known how to live.”
My personal interpretation: For someone who has spent his life well, death can no longer frighten him, because we prepare for death when we live.
40- “Nous devons apprécier la vie pendant que nous l’avons, car la mort est juste une autre phase de la vie.” – Confucius – philosopher
English translation: We must enjoy life while we have it, for death is just another phase of life.
My personal interpretation: It’s better to live life to the full while you have the breath of life, because death is a world apart.
41- “La vie est agréable. La mort est paisible. C’est la transition qui est difficile.‘’ – Isaac Asimov – Writer
English translation: Life is pleasant. Death is peaceful. It is the transition that is difficult.
My personal interpretation: For him, the transition from life to death is difficult, but death is peaceful.
42- “La mort peut être la plus grande des bénédictions humaines.’’– Socrate – philosopher
English translation: Death can be the greatest of human blessings.
My personal interpretation: Death is the greatest human satisfaction, since it allows man to live in another, more peaceful world.
43- “Je ne crains pas la mort, je veux juste ne pas être là quand ça arrivera.’’ – Woody Allen – Author
English translation: I don’t fear death, I just don’t want to be there when it happens.
My personal interpretation: For him, death is accepted by all, but its coming is never desired.
44- “La mort est notre mariage avec l’éternité.’’ – Rumi – Poet
English translation: Death is our marriage with eternity.
My personal interpretation: When we die, we become eternal for Rumi.
45- “La mort est un changement; où il y a un changement, il y a la nature.’’ – Marcus Aurelius – Philosopher
English translation: Death is a change; where there is a change, there is nature.
My personal interpretation: Marcus just sees death as a change into another world, which makes it possible to affirm that death is a passage into another nature.
46- “Pour la vie et la mort sont une seule chose, tout comme le fleuve et la mer ne font qu’un.’’- Khalil Gibran – Poet
English translation: For life and death are one, just as the river and the sea are one.
My personal interpretation: This thinker asserts that life and death should not be separated, because the two are one.
47- “La frontière entre la vie et la mort est à la fois moins claire et plus importante que jamais.’’ – Edgar Allan Poe – Poet
English translation: The boundary between life and death is both less clear and more important than ever.
My personal interpretation: The passage from life to death is inexplicable because no one can define it.
And that’s the end of the French quotes on death. I hope you’ve enjoyed my selection.
See you soon, friends!
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People also ask about French quotes about death:
What is a famous French quote about death?
There are a lot of French quotes about Death from famous French people :
- “Ceux qui vivent sont ceux qui luttent ; ceux qui meurent en luttant sont les seuls qui vivent.” – Victor Hugo – Writer
- “La mort est plus douce que la vie n’a été amère.” – Blaise Pascal – Writer
- “La vie est un jeu de malheureux; la mort est un port pour tous les hommes.” – Voltaire – Philosopher
- …etc
Please read above my selection of 47 French quotes about Death !
What is a famous French quote about life?
There is a lot of French quotes about Life, for example :
- “La Vie Est Une Fleur Dont L’amour Est Le Miel.” – Victor Hugo
- “Vivre, C’est Agir.” – Jean-Jacques Rousseau
- “La Vie Est Un Sommeil, L’amour En Est Le Rêve.” – Alfred De Musset
- …etc
And please check my post with 77 French quotes about Life !
