Life is one fool thing after another where as love is two fool things after each other.[Oscar Wilde]
that's the closest I've found

Sybille, habe in Bartlett's ("Familiar Quotations") vergebens gesucht, auch ein wenig gegoogelt, und finde nichts.

"Love is (a) foolishness committed by two people,"
"Love is a folly . . . ."
" . . . stupidity . . . ."

waeren so die direkten Uebersetzungen.

War zwar nicht unbedingt das gesuchte, aber trotzdem danke euch beiden! Schade, ich habe auch schon vergebens gegoogelt. Von Napoleon gibt es einfach zu viele Zitate ... dieser alte Aphorismenreisser ...

Hallo Sibylle,

hier steht auch, dass es von Napoleon ist: http://www.zitate-suche.de/liebe.html

"L'amour est une sottise faite à deux." - Napoléon Buonaparte
(Love is two people making the same mistake.)
http://bebere.blogspot.com/2005_04_01_archive.html

The above translation isn't very literal, but it looks reasonable enough, pending comments from our French speakers.

If you want a more official version, I would suggest googling the French original (or asking in the LEO French forum). If you can find out where Napoleon said or wrote it, you can probably find out whether the source has been translated into English.

i think i prefer here

love is a folly ...

i would reinvent this as

love is a folie-aux-deux (the term is used in English and i like the pun quality)

oops das soll dan wohl

love is a folly/folie a deux

I agree that 'folly' is closer to the right historical period in English, more old-fashioned.

However, I thought too about 'folie à deux' (so written) and rejected it because I think it's actually more like madness, craziness, not just stupidity. At least, I don't think 'sottise' and 'folie' are quite the same in French, but again, it might help to have a comment from a French speaker, or to switch over to the French forum.

But before switching (or even after), we'd all like to know what you find is the best or "official" English translation.

HM: I disagree with your translation from the French. I find Sybille's original attempt ("Love is a foolishness committed by two people") much closer.

One can debate how to translate "sottise," but "fait a deux" is pretty clearly "made by two (people)."

Furthermore, "Two people making the same mistake" has quite a different meaning from "one foolishness committed by two (people)." You and I might make the same mistake, but that's not to say we committed it together.

It's not my translation, I just found it on the internet, as the link under it shows. And if you notice, I already mentioned that it was less literal.

I don't have anything against 'folly committed by two people' as a literal translation, I was just trying to help see if there was an already-existing translation anywhere around, which I thought was what Sibylle had actually asked for.

Sorry hm, no offense.

Sybille certainly ought to take note of it.

I didn't examine that site thoroughly, so I didn't notice whether the author mentions where he or she found the translation and consequently don't know whether it's a widely accepted one or the blogger's own.