We cannot confront solitude without moral resources.

For businessmen, the world is a bale of banknotes in circulation; for most young men, it is a woman; for some women, it is a man; and for others it may be a salon, a coterie, a part of town or a whole city.

Sometimes at the best moments a single word or a look is enough.'

Love is the only way on which even the dim-witted reaches certain heights.

Envy lurks at the bottom of the human heart like a viper in its hole.

Marriage is an institution necessary to the maintenance of society but contrary to the laws of nature.

Conscience is a cudgel which all men pick up in order to thwack their neighbors instead of applying it to their own shoulders.