Nicolas Boileau-Despreaux

Nicolas Boileau-Despréaux – Life, Career, and Famous Quotes

Discover the life, works, and enduring wisdom of Nicolas Boileau-Despréaux, the great 17th-century French poet and critic who shaped classical literary taste. Explore his biography, major works, philosophy, and memorable quotes.

Introduction

Nicolas Boileau-Despréaux (1 November 1636 – 13 March 1711) was a towering figure in French literature: a poet, satirist, translator, and critic who championed classical ideals of clarity, balance, and reason.

Boileau’s influence went beyond mere poetic output: through his L’Art poétique, satirical works, and critical writings, he helped to set the standards for French classicism and deeply influenced later English critics such as Alexander Pope.

In what follows, we’ll trace his life and context, review his major works and critical stance, explore his personality and legacy, and present a selection of his most resonant quotes.

Early Life and Family

Nicolas Boileau was born on 1 November 1636 in Paris, France. fifteenth child of Gilles Boileau, a clerk (greffier) in the Parlement of Paris.

The surname “Despréaux” (or “Despréaux / Des Préaux”) was derived from a small property in Crosne, near Villeneuve-Saint-Georges, which the family adopted to distinguish Nicolas from his brothers.

He was educated first in Paris: at the Collège de Beauvais and earlier at the Collège d’Harcourt, before being sent to the Sorbonne for theological studies. law, being admitted to the bar on 4 December 1656.

However, the legal profession quickly soured for him: he became disillusioned with its procedural tricks and injustices and soon abandoned it.

When his father died in 1657, Boileau inherited a modest fortune (a small annual rent), allowing him to devote himself to literary pursuits without pressing material constraints.

From early on, Boileau was drawn to the classics: he admired Horace, Juvenal, and the Roman satirists, and he resolved to reform the degenerating taste he saw in his contemporaries.

Career and Achievements

Early Writings & Satires

Boileau’s first significant poetic expression appeared in his Satires, which he began composing around 1660.

These satirical poems were modeled on Horace and Juvenal, blending moral critique, polished style, and biting wit.

Boileau also composed the Dialogue sur les héros de roman (Dialogue on Novel Heroes), a prose satire against the excessive romantic novels of his day (e.g. those by La Calprenède, Madame de Scudéry). Although written in the 1660s, it was not published until after his death.

L’Art poétique, Le Lutrin, and Critical Writings

One of Boileau’s most enduring works is L’Art poétique (1674), a didactic poem in four books modeled on Horace’s Ars Poetica.

In parallel, Boileau wrote Le Lutrin, a mock-heroic poem begun around 1674, later extended through 1683.

That same year, he translated the Traité du sublime (treatise on the sublime) from Longinus, making the notion of the “sublime” (le sublime) a part of French letters.

Through these works, Boileau wielded both poetic craft and critical authority. He did not shy from controversy: his judgments were sometimes harsh, and he made enemies among those he criticized.

Later Years, Conflicts, and Final Works

In 1677, Boileau and Jean Racine were appointed historiographers to the king (Louis XIV). Académie française (on 15 April).

As he aged, Boileau’s output lessened. One of his last major works was his Satire XII, “Sur l’équivoque” (c. 1705), in which he attacked the Jesuits.

In 1705 Boileau sold his house and returned to Paris, living with his confessor in the cloisters of Notre Dame.

He died on 13 March 1711 in Paris.

Historical & Literary Context

Boileau lived during the Grand Siècle (the great century) of French literature and under the reign of Louis XIV, when the classical style (order, restraint, clarity) was the dominant ideal. Querelle des anciens et des modernes (the quarrel of the ancients vs. moderns). Boileau firmly defended the Ancients (i.e. classical Greek and Roman models) against claims that modern authors were superior.

His advocacy of reason, good taste, moderation, and clarity set the benchmark for French literary criticism and influenced subsequent generations—both in France and abroad (notably in England via translations and influence on Pope).

Over time, some critics judged Boileau’s strict rules as stifling or overly mechanical. Yet modern reassessments have softened earlier caricatures of him as a rigid pedant.

In sum, Boileau sits at the nexus of poetic practice and critical theory in 17th-century France—a poet whose works and judgments shaped literary norms for generations.

Legacy and Influence

Boileau’s influence hums persistently through literary history:

• He is often called the “législateur du Parnasse” (legislator of Parnassus), emblematic of his role as arbiter of literary taste.

• His L’Art poétique became a standard guide to poetic technique and taste—not only in France, but also in England (via translation and impact on Dryden, Pope, and others).

• His sharp satirical voice influenced later satirists and critics who sought to balance humor and moral seriousness.

• While some later writers rebelled against his strict classicism (especially in the Romantic era), Boileau’s emphasis on clarity, measure, and coherence has endured as a touchstone in literary education.

• In French literary history he remains a frequent object of study—both as practitioner and theorist.

• In Paris and elsewhere, his name appears in street names (Rue Boileau, Avenue Despréaux) and even in commemorative gestures.

Thus, Boileau’s legacy is not merely his poems but the critical framework he established—a set of ideals that literary practice would continually test, uphold, or challenge.

Personality, Style, and Philosophy

Boileau was known for a straightforward, disciplined temperament. Critic Sainte-Beuve described him as honest, outspoken, benevolent, and possessed of warm feelings, but also firm in his standards.

He had a reputation for frankness and candor—even at court—and for intervening in debates with moral force.

In poetic style, Boileau prized clarity, naturalness, and restraint over ornamentation. He believed that good sense should harmonize with rhyme, not be subordinated to it. “Whatever is well conceived is clearly said, and the words to say it flow with ease.”

He also held to the idea that the writer should revisit, polish, and rework his verses: “Hasten slowly; and, without losing heart, Put your work twenty times upon the anvil.”

His moral vision surfaced in his satirical works and epistles, in which he upheld virtue, truth, and reason, while condemning vanity, folly, and pretension.

Thus Boileau balanced passion and principle, satire and seriousness, always undergirded by classical rigor.

Famous Quotes of Nicolas Boileau-Despréaux

Here are some notable aphorisms and lines attributed to Boileau (in translation, with approximate English renditions):

• “A fool always finds one still more foolish to admire him.” (Un sot trouve toujours un plus sot qui l’admire.)

• “Hasten slowly; and, without losing heart, Put your work twenty times upon the anvil.” (Hâtez-vous lentement; et, sans perdre courage, Vingt fois sur le métier remettez votre ouvrage.)

• “Whatever is well conceived is clearly said, and the words to say it flow with ease.” (Quelque sujet qu’on traite… / Whatever we conceive well we express clearly…)

• “Time flies and draws us with it; the moment in which I am speaking is already far from me.” (Le temps fuit, et nous traîne avec soi; Le moment où je parle est déjà loin de moi.)

• “Nothing but truth is lovely, nothing fair.” (Rien n'est vraiment beau que la vérité ; rien ne plaît que la vérité seule.)

• “Honor is like an island, rugged and without shores; once we are outside, we can never re-enter it.” (L’honneur est comme une île escarpée et sans bords ; On n’y peut plus rentrer dès qu’on en est dehors.)

• “In spite of every sage whom Greece can show / Unerring wisdom never dwelt below; / Folly in all of every age we see — the only difference lies in the degree.” (From Satire IV)

• “Often the fear of one evil leads us into a worse.” (Souvent la peur d’un mal nous conduit dans un pire.)

• “Of all the creatures … I really think the greatest fool is man.” (De tous les animaux … Le plus sot animal, à mon avis, c’est l’homme.)

These lines reflect Boileau’s moral severity, his clarity of vision, and his belief in the writer’s duty to truth and reason.

Lessons from Boileau

1. The power of clarity and restraint. Boileau reminds us that in writing (or any creative work), clarity is a virtue: subtlety and balance often speak more deeply than ornamentation.

2. Revision is essential. His counsel to revisit one’s work dozens of times suggests that excellence is rarely achieved in a single draft.

3. Critique with principle. Boileau’s satirical voice shows how literary judgments rooted in reason and taste can challenge cultural excess and superficiality.

4. Balance art and morality. He believed that poetry must both please and teach — that beauty and truth should go hand in hand.

5. Enduring influence through ideas. Even when aesthetic fashions change, ideas about form, clarity, and integrity persist—and Boileau’s influence underscores that.

Conclusion

Nicolas Boileau-Despréaux was more than a poet of the French classical era: he was a critic, a reformer, a moralist, and a creative mind who shaped how literature would be judged and practiced. His emphasis on clarity, balance, and moral seriousness left a mark on French letters and resonated beyond France, influencing English critics and poets.

Though later writers sometimes rebelled against his rigidity, his principles remain instructive for any thoughtful writer or reader. To read Boileau is to engage with the tension between rule and freedom, between wit and wisdom, and between the timeless and the timely.