In the medical profession a horse and carriage are more necessary than any scientific knowledge.

The innocence of virgins is like milk which turns when exposed to a clap of thunder, to a tart smell, to a hot day, to the merest nothing.

What is a child, monsieur, but the image of two beings, the fruit of two sentiments spontaneously blended?

A mother's happiness is like a beacon, lighting up the future but reflected also on the past in the guise of fond memories.

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.

If we could but paint with the hand what we see with the eye.

A girl fresh from a boarding school may perhaps be a virgin but no! she is never chaste.