The word realist means nothing to me, because I would subordinate reality to temperament. Give me what is true and I applaud; but give me what is individual and alive and I applaud even more.

She was cold by nature, self-love predominating over passion; rather than being virtuous, she preferred to have her pleasures all to herself.

Did not one spend the first half of one's days in dreams of happiness and the second half in regrets and terrors?

Let us eat, drink and satisfy our coarse appetites, but let us keep our souls sacred and apart.

In my view you cannot claim to have seen something until you have photographed it.

She might have liked to try to strangle him with those slender fingers of hers, but she wanted to make a job of it and this great patience with which she waited for her claws to grow was in itself a form of enjoyment.

I am spending delightful afternoons in my garden, watching everything living around me. As I grow older, I feel everything departing, and I love everything with more passion.