Virtue, my pet, is an abstract idea, varying in its manifestations with the surroundings. Virtue in Provence, in Constantinople, in London, and in Paris bears very different fruit, but is none the less virtue.

Glory is a poison, good to be taken in small doses.

A wife is property that one acquires by contract, she is transferable, because possession of her requires title; in fact, woman is, so to speak, only man's appendage; consequently, slice, cut, clip her, you have all rights to her.

A lover always thinks of his mistress first and himself second; with a husband it runs the other way.

A man's own vanity is a swindler that never lacks for a dupe.

We do not attach ourselves lastingly to anything that has not cost us care, labor or longing.

The victory always has a lot of parents but the defeat is always an orphan.