James Wood, comp. Dictionary of Quotations. 1899.

Beaumarchais

Be commonplace and cringing, and everything is within your reach.

Ce qui ne vaut pas la peine d’être dit, on le chante—What is not worth the trouble of being said, may pass off very fairly when it is sung.

Il fallait un calculateur, ce fut un danseur qui l’obtint—A financier was wanted, a dancingmaster got the post.

Médiocre et rampant, et l’on arrive à tout—Be second-rate and fawning, and you may attain to anything.

Qu’est-ce qu’un noble? Un homme qui s’est donné la peine de naître—What is a nobleman? A man who has given himself the trouble of being born.

Que les gens de l’esprit sont bêtes—What silly people wits are!

Tout finit par des chansons—Everything in the end passes into song.