My mistress has come home; at last I've seen her. Now I'm ready to die.

Man has been endowed with reason, with the power to create, so that he can add to what he's been given.

When you describe the miserable and unfortunate, and want to make the reader feel pity, try to be somewhat colder - that seems to give a kind of background to another's grief, against which it stands out more clearly. Whereas in your story the characters cry and you sigh. Yes, be more cold. ... The more objective you are, the stronger will be the impression you make.

In displaying the psychology of your characters, minute particulars are essential. God save us from vague generalizations!

A litterateur is not a confectioner, not a dealer in cosmetics, not an entertainer. . . . He is just like an ordinary reporter. What would you say if a newspaper reporter, because of his fastidiousness or from a wish to give pleasure to his readers, were to describe only honest mayors, high-minded ladies, and virtuous railroad contractors.

It is easy to be a philosopher in academia, but it is very difficult to be a philosopher in life.

It's better to live down a scandal than to ruin one's life.