Pleasure is found first in anticipation, later in memory.

The faster the word sticks to the thought, the more beautiful is the effect.

After the pain of this disappointment her heart once more stood empty, and the succession of identical days began again.

Woman is a vulgar animal from whom man has created an excessively beautiful ideal.

What an awful thing life is, isn’t it? It’s like soup with lots of hairs floating on the surface. You have to eat it nevertheless.

There comes a point at which you stop writing and think all the more

Remembering the ball became for Emma a daily occupation. Every time Wednesday came round, she told herself when she woke up: 'Ah! One week ago...two weeks ago...three weeks ago, I was there!' And, little by little, in her memory, the faces all blurred together; she forgot the tunes of the quadrilles; no longer could she so clearly picture the liveries and the rooms; some details disappeared, but the yearning remained.