Music is of two kinds: one petty, poor, second-rate, never varying, its base the hundred or so phrasings which all musicians understand, a babbling which is more or less pleasant, the life that most composers live.

Conventions are often more cruel than the law.

Our souls possess the unknown power of extending as well as contracting space.

But woman brings disorder into society through passion.

True love is eternal, infinite, and always like itself. It is equal and pure, without violent demonstrations: it is seen with white hairs and is always young in the heart.

A careful observation of Nature will disclose pleasantries of superb irony. She has for instance placed toads close to flowers.

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