Happiness may have but one night, as glory but one day.

Take love as a sober man takes wine; do not become a drunkard. If your mistress is sincere and faithful, love her for that; but if she is not, if she is merely young and beautiful, love her for that; if she is agreeable and spirituelle, love her for that; if she is none of these things but merely loves you, love her for that. Love does not come to us every day.

Perfection does not exist; to understand it is the triumph of human intelligence; to expect to possess it is the most dangerous kind of madness.

A lively retrospect summons back to us once more our youth, with vivid reflex of its early joys and unstained pleasures.

Experience is the name men give to their follies or their sorrows.

Reason may cure illusions, but not suffering.

Nothing is a sin when you obey the orders of a priest