What does 'l'homme c'est rien l'oeuvre c'est tout' mean?

Answer 1

The sentence 'L'homme c'est rien. L'oeuvre c'est tout' means [The individual] man is nothing. The overall work [or mankind] is everything. In the word-by-word translation, the definite article 'le'* means 'the'. The noun 'homme' means 'man'. The demonstrative pronoun 'ce'* means 'this'. The verb 'est' means '[he/she/it] is'. The noun 'rien' means 'nothing'. The noun 'oeuvre' means '[overall or body of creative] work'. And the noun 'tout' means 'all, everything'.

*The letter 'e' drops before a word that begins with a non-aspirated vowel.

At the end of his Sherlock Holmes story, "the red-headed league" Sir Arthur Conan Doyle attributes this to Gustave Flaubert (writing to George Sand).

Answer 2

This French phrase translates to "The man is nothing, the work is everything." It emphasizes that the value lies in the work itself rather than the person behind it. It highlights the importance of focusing on the outcome or creation rather than the individual.