The country is provincial; it becomes ridiculous when it tries to ape Paris.

Bureaucracy is a giant mechanism operated by pygmies.

Modern reformers offer nebulous theories or write philanthropic novels. But your thief acts! He is as clear as a fact and as logical as a punch on the nose! And what a style he has!

The duration of a couple's passion is in proportion to the woman's original resistance or to the obstacles that social hazards have placed in the way of her happiness.

My writing table has seen all my wretchedness, knows all my plans, has overheard all my thoughts.

A rent in your clothes is a mishap, a stain on them is a vice.

Kindness steers no easy course. Attributing it to character, we seldom recognize the secret efforts of a noble heart, whereas we reward really wicked people for the evil they refrain from committing.