The great natures which are good, are above everything generous and don't begrudge the giving of themselves.

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.

To see one's name in print! Some people commit a crime for no other reason.

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

The only way to avoid being unhappy is to close yourself up in Art and to count for nothing all the rest.

The better a work is, the more it attracts criticism; it is like the fleas who rush to jump on white linens.

He loved the extensive vaults where you could hear the night birds and the sea breeze; he loved the craggy ruins bound together by ivy, those dark halls, and any appearance of death and destruction. Having fallen so far from so high a position, he loved anything that had also fallen from a great height