A letter is a soul, so faithful an echo of the speaking voice that to the sensitive it is among the richest treasures of love.

In Paris, when certain people see you ready to set your foot in the stirrup, some pull your coat-tails, others loosen the buckle of the strap that you may fall and crack your skull; one wrenches off your horse's shoes, another steals your whip, and the least treacherous of them all is the man whom you see coming to fire his pistol at you point blank.

Many men are deeply moved by the mere semblance of suffering in a woman; they take the look of pain for a sign of constancy or of love.

Admiration bestowed upon any one but ourselves is always tedious.

Discouragement is of all ages: In youth it is a presentiment, in old age a remembrance.

To promote laughter without joining in it greatly heightens the effect.

Necessity is the spur of genius.