It is not wise to be wiser than is necessary.

The piece succeeded and Quinault followed it up but he also read for the bar; and in 1660 when he married a widow with money he bought himself a place in the Cour des Comptes. Then came Cadmus et Hermione (1674) Alceste (1674) Thesée (1675) Atys (1676) one of his best pieces and Isis (1677). This was not only very profitable (for he is said to have received four thousand livres for each which was much more than was usually paid even for tragedy) but it establiPhilippe Quinaultd Quinault's reputation as the master of a new style--so that even Boileau who had previously satirized his dramatic work was converted less to the opera which he did not like than to Quinault's remarkably ingenious and artist-like work in it.

Philippe Quinault (3 June 1635 – 26 November 1688) French dramatist and librettist was born in Paris.