Men are such dupes by choice, that he who would impose upon others never need be at a loss to find ready victims.

Man can start with aversion and end with love, but if he begins with love and comes round to aversion he will never get back to love.

By and large, women have a faith and a morality peculiar to themselves; they believe in the reality of everything that serves their interest and their passions.

The secret of the nobility and beauty of great ladies lies in the art with which they can shed their veils. In such situations, they become like ancient statues. If they kept the merest scarf on, they would be lewd. Your bourgeois woman will always try to cover her nakedness.

Nothing is as heady as the wine of misfortune.

Few men are raised in our estimation by being too closely examined.

When she lives at his palace, the maiden niece of a bishop can pass for a respectable woman because, if she has a love affair, she is obliged to hoodwink her uncle.