French proverbs and sayings

Petit à petit, l'oiseau fait son nid. Little by little, the bird builds its nest.

A proverb about patience: with perseverance we get there (Académie, Expressio).

Après la pluie, le beau temps. After the rain, the fine weather.

After troubles come happier times (Académie). Good for a get-well or encouragement card.

L'appétit vient en mangeant. Appetite comes with eating.

Rabelais writes it in Gargantua, chapter 5, in 16th-century spelling. The Académie lists it as a proverb.

On ne voit bien qu'avec le cœur. L'essentiel est invisible pour les yeux. One sees clearly only with the heart. What is essential is invisible to the eye.

The fox's secret in Le Petit Prince.

Le cœur a ses raisons, que la raison ne connaît point. The heart has its reasons, which reason does not know.

From Pascal's Pensées.