To handle a language skillfully is to practice a kind of evocative sorcery.

There exist only three beings worthy of respect: the priest, the soldier, the poet. To know, to kill, to create.

I have more memories than if I were a thousand years old.

The old Paris is no more (the form of a city changes faster, alas! than a mortal's heart).

Both ardent lovers and austere scholars, when once they come to the years of discretion, love cats, so strong and gentle, the pride of the household, who like them are sensitive to the cold, and sedentary.

I have to confess that I had gambled on my soul and lost it with heroic insouciance and lightness of touch. The soul is so impalpable, so often useless, and sometimes such a nuisance, that I felt no more emotion on losing it than if, on a stroll, I had mislaid my visiting card.

The dandy should aspire to be uninterruptedly sublime. He should live and sleep in front of a mirror.