Voluptuousness, like justice, is blind, but that is the only resemblance between them.

Clarity of mind means clarity of passion, too.

A mere trifle consoles us, for a mere trifle distresses us.

It is an appalling thing to feel all one possesses drain away.

Small minds are concerned with the extraordinary, great minds with the ordinary.

This is what I see, and what troubles me. I look on all sides, and everywhere I see nothing but obscurity. Nature offers me nothing that is not a matter of doubt and disquiet.

If a man loves a woman for her beauty, does he love her? No; for the smallpox, which destroys her beauty without killing her, causes his love to cease. And if any one loves me for my judgment or my memory, does he really love me? No; for I can lose these qualities without ceasing to be.