The citadel of Machaerus rose east of the Dead Sea on a basalt Peak shaped like a cone, girdled by four deep valleys; two about its sides, one in front, and the fourth behind.

Sentences must stir in a book like leaves in a forest, each distinct from each despite their resemblance.

Beautiful things spoil nothing.

Everything one invents is true, you may be perfectly sure of that. Poetry is as precise as geometry.

Only three things are infinite. The sky in its stars, the sea in its drops of water, and the heart in its tears.

She was as sated with him as he was tired of her. Emma had rediscovered in adultery all the banality of marriage.

Noble characters and pure affections and happy scenes are very comforting things. They're a refuge from life's disillusionments.