Help with a french translation
December 16, 2008 8:10 PM Subscribe
Does anyone know the original french to this quote, "perfection is a lot of little things done well"?
I'd like to find the original french to the quote "perfection is a lot of little things done well" I read of it in Marco Pierre White's autobiography. He quotes it from Ferdinand Point's Ma Gastronomie. Bonus points if your google-fu can procure evidence, awesome if you really know your french. thanks all!
I'd like to find the original french to the quote "perfection is a lot of little things done well" I read of it in Marco Pierre White's autobiography. He quotes it from Ferdinand Point's Ma Gastronomie. Bonus points if your google-fu can procure evidence, awesome if you really know your french. thanks all!
Best answer: What I've found so far is "le succès est une somme de petites choses mises au point,"-- which translates to "success is the sum of little things done well." However, it only shows up on three websites [1] [2] [3], none of which look terribly official. (His name is "Fernand," not "Ferdinand," by the way.)
posted by cimton at 8:53 PM on December 16, 2008 [2 favorites]
posted by cimton at 8:53 PM on December 16, 2008 [2 favorites]
Ok, I've spent way too much time on this..... However.
This store is listed (by the B&N website) as having a copy of the latest translation of Ma Gastronomie. So, at least, you could leaf through it.
(I believe is near you, ecks. I don't really have a sense of distances in Boston)
Barnes & Noble Booksellers
Prudential Center
617-247-6959
Address:
Prudential Center
800 Boylston Street Suite 179
Boston, MA 02199
posted by oddman at 9:59 PM on December 16, 2008
This store is listed (by the B&N website) as having a copy of the latest translation of Ma Gastronomie. So, at least, you could leaf through it.
(I believe is near you, ecks. I don't really have a sense of distances in Boston)
Barnes & Noble Booksellers
Prudential Center
617-247-6959
Address:
Prudential Center
800 Boylston Street Suite 179
Boston, MA 02199
posted by oddman at 9:59 PM on December 16, 2008
Best answer: This is odd: "Ma Gastronomie" wasn't published until 1969.
But the only book on google book search that comes up for cimton's version (also the only one I could find) is from 1940.
posted by nat at 10:28 PM on December 16, 2008
But the only book on google book search that comes up for cimton's version (also the only one I could find) is from 1940.
posted by nat at 10:28 PM on December 16, 2008
Although it does appear that the text of Ma Gastronomie, in its various versions, isn't (yet?) searchable. Still wierd.
posted by nat at 10:36 PM on December 16, 2008
posted by nat at 10:36 PM on December 16, 2008
Best answer: I found a another version in english
"Success is the sum of a lot of small things done correctly"
anyway the correct french quotation seems to be the following :
"Le succès est une somme de petites choses mises au point"
source
posted by Jaloux Saboteur at 5:21 AM on December 17, 2008
"Success is the sum of a lot of small things done correctly"
anyway the correct french quotation seems to be the following :
"Le succès est une somme de petites choses mises au point"
source
posted by Jaloux Saboteur at 5:21 AM on December 17, 2008
Response by poster: thank you all for your time and helpfulness!
posted by ecks at 7:19 AM on December 17, 2008
posted by ecks at 7:19 AM on December 17, 2008
This thread is closed to new comments.
Les petites choses font la perfection et la perfection n’est pas une petite affaire.
(Small things make for perfection, but perfection is no small thing.)
posted by zadcat at 8:17 PM on December 16, 2008