He was bored now when Emma suddenly began to sob on his breast; and his heart, like the people who can only stand a certain amount of music, became drowsy through indifference to the vibrations of a love whose subtleties he could no longer distinguish.

It is necessary to sleep upon the pillow of doubt.

But an infinity of passions can be contained in a minute, like a crowd in a tiny space.

If you participate in life, you don’t see it clearly: you suffer from it too much or enjoy it too much. The artist, to my way of thinking, is a monstrosity, something outside nature. All the misfortunes Providence inflicts on him come from his stubborness in denying that maxim.

What an elder sees sitting; the young can't see standing.

Writing history is like drinking an ocean and pissing a cupful.

But some day sooner or later our passion would have cooled - inevitably - it's the way with everything human.