When writing poetry, it is not that produces a bright idea, but the bright idea that kindles the fire of.

Lessons are not given, they are taken.

Living is like working out a long addition sum, and if you make a mistake in the first two totals you will never find the right answer. It means involving oneself in a complicated chain of circumstances.

When we read, we are not looking for new ideas, but to see our own thoughts given the seal of confirmation on the printed page. The words that strike us are those that awake an echo in a zone we have already made our own—the place where we live—and the vibration enables us to find fresh starting points within ourselves

No woman marries for money; they are all clever enough, before marrying a millionaire, to fall in love with him first.

For women, history does not exist. Murasaki, Sappho, and Madame Lafayette might be their own contemporaries.

We can all do good deeds, but very few of us can think good thoughts.