I find nothing so painful as having to lead men.
• Letter to his uncle Léonor Mérimée (29 December 1816), quoted in Œuvres complètes d'Augustin Fresnel (1866), p. xviii]
• Letter to his uncle Léonor Mérimée (29 December 1816), quoted in Œuvres complètes d'Augustin Fresnel (1866), p. xviii]
“
Je ne trouve rien de si pénible que d'avoir à mener des hommes.
— Augustin-Jean Fresnel
What It Means
This is a placeholder explanation generated by the low-overhead model. It interprets "Je ne trouve rien de si pénible que d'avoir à mener des hommes." in the context of "I find nothing so painful as having to lead men.
• Letter to his uncle Léonor Mérimée (29 December 1816), quoted in Œuvres complètes d'Augustin Fresnel (1866), p. xviii]" to mean that wisdom is timeless.
Source: Wikiquote: "Augustin-Jean Fresnel" (Quotes)
The 'What it means' explanation text was generated by Google Gemini Flash (accessed January 18, 2026). https://gemini.google.com/app
About Augustin-Jean Fresnel
Augustin-Jean Fresnel (10 May 1788 – 14 July 1827) was a French civil engineer and physicist whose research in optics led to the almost unanimous acceptance of the wave theory of light, excluding any remnant of Newton's corpuscular theory, from the late 1830s until the end of the 19th century. But he is perhaps better known for inventing the catadioptric (reflective/refractive) Fresnel lens and for pioneering the use of "stepped" lenses to extend the visibility of lighthouses, saving unknown numbers of lives at sea.
About Augustin-Jean Fresnel
Augustin-Jean Fresnel (10 May 1788 – 14 July 1827) was a French civil engineer and physicist whose research in optics led to the almost unanimous acceptance of the wave theory of light, excluding any remnant of Newton's corpuscular theory, from the late 1830s until the end of the 19th century. But he is perhaps better known for inventing the catadioptric (reflective/refractive) Fresnel lens and for pioneering the use of "stepped" lenses to extend the visibility of lighthouses, saving unknown numbers of lives at sea.
View all quotes →