It is difficult to keep quiet if you have nothing to do

Dissimulation is innate in woman, and almost as much a quality of the stupid as of the clever.

Whatever torch we kindle, and whatever space it may illuminate, our horizon will always remain encircled by the depth of night.

Necessity is the constant scourge of the lower classes, ennui of the higher ones.

Genius is to other gifts what the carbuncle is to the precious stones. It sends forth its own light, whereas other stones only reflect borrowed light.

Hatred is an affair of the heart; contempt that of the head.

One man is more concerned with the impression he makes on the rest of mankind, another with the impression the rest of mankind makes on him.