I am more affected by the attractions of virtue than by the deformities of vice; I turn gently away from the wicked and I fly to meet the good. If there is in a literary work, in a character, in a picture, in a statue, a beautiful spot, that is where my eyes rest; I see only that, I remember only that, all the rest is well-nigh forgotten. What becomes of me when the whole work is beautiful!

Doctors are always working to preserve our health and cooks to destroy it, but the latter are the more often successful.

For me, my thoughts are my prostitutes.

Only passions, and great passions, can raise the soul to great things. Without them there is no sublimity, either in morals or in creativity. Art returns to infancy, and virtue becomes small-minded.

If you disturb the colors of the rainbow, the rainbow is no longer beautiful.

There is only one duty; that is to be happy.

First move me, astonish me, break my heart, let me tremble, weep, stare, be enraged-only then regale my eyes.