So much the worse for those who fear wine, for it is because they have some bad thoughts which they are afraid the liquor will extract from their hearts.

Only a man who has felt ultimate despair is capable of feeling ultimate bliss.

What I’ve loved most after you, is myself: that is, my dignity and that strength which made me superior to other men. That Strength was my life. You’ve broken it with a word, so I must die.

Within six months, if I am not dead, I shall have seen you again, madam--even if I have to overturn the world.

There is neither happiness nor misery in the world; there is only the comparison of one state with another, nothing more. He who has felt the deepest grief is best able to experience supreme happiness.

The merit of all things lies in their difficulty.

I am a count, not a saint.