The hand that rocks the cradle rules the world

[Crack1]

I found the following French translation on the Internet.

Is it correct?

I want to get an answer straight from the horse's mouth.

I mean our native French speaking friends ought to know the veracity of the French equivalent.

La main qui berce l'enfant est la main qui domine le monde». 

[George Hunt]

The original expression is apparently  from a poem  by an American poet  Wallace.

http://citations.webescence.com/citations/William-Ross-Wallace/main...

The French  equivalent  is really just  a translation  since it seems not to have been an idea that originated in the French language .

This is hardly  something that is going to be said often in conversation  so I don't know how important it would be  for  a native French speaker  to  judge as to how correct  your translation is  but I can see no obvious mistake.

I see from the link I have given above that "dirige" may work as well as "domine" 

You can also find a French language discussion on the  sentiment here:

https://fr.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20090416160337AA2mUrs

[Crack1]

Thanks George

The dominance of women at home or elsewhere is obvious.

So I have heard this from native English speakers.

Maybe French and other nationalities do not know this.

Some countries have women prime ministers. 

A native English speaker tends to use this expression.

I have never ever  heard this from a native French, German, Spanish, Norwegian, Swedish, Polish or Russian speakers.

[George Hunt]

Do you mean the expression or the sentiment?

We also have the expression "Who wears the pants in the house ?" which is a more brutal  and  down to earth  variant on the theme.

I would be surprised if the  capability of a woman  to  be the  effective leader in a family group even if not formally so has not been recognized  in nearly every culture (but I am surmising)

I am not sure if this tendency is a recent phenomenon  ,though.      ( we might  need to have  been  a  historical fly on the wall perhaps  ;)   )

I am also not quite sure what this Wallace poem is saying. Did he mean that the mother of the child  inculcates  her values and abilities into future leaders of countries ? So she "rules" in an indirect way.

[Crack1]

George

I mean the expression.

I was born in a former British colony;  it is Sri Lanka.

We had the first female prime minister of the World, in the 70s.

I heard this expression very often, then.

You may tell me those people are not native English speakers.

I have never heard the expression ' Who wears the pants in the house'.

For me, all cultures, the wife takes decisions.

When people separate, mostly the female partner takes the initiative.

This is my experience.

You may beg to differ.

[George Hunt]

No , I would personally include  any culture with  a strong exposure to the  English language as "native English  speakers". 

Not being familiar with Sri Lanka  I cannot say if there was /is a large class of the population  with this familiarity and use of the language.

It was a British colony of course and so I suspect that may have been  (and remains) the case.

There are many dialects of English (and American English would be one of the most interesting examples  ;-)   ) 

I don't agree with you that the wife always makes the decisions . Some men can be very domineering in the familial context  ,even to  the extent of laying down the law as to how his wife dresses and  cuts her hair.

[Crack1]

I respect to your views on decision making procedures in the families.

By the way, I have just returned from Sri Lanka after a 3-months long holiday.

It is very warm. The temperature rose to 38 degrees Celsius in the middle of the day.

Soon I am going to Sri Lanka again for a short holiday. I am obliged to attend a religious ceremony in Sri Lanka. I will stay about 14 days in Sri Lanka.