Pure herring oil is the port wine of English cats

What moralists describe as the mysteries of the human heart are solely the deceiving thoughts, the spontaneous impulses of self-regard. The sudden changes in character, about which so much has been said, are instinctive calculations for the furtherance of our own pleasures. Seeing himself now in his fine clothes, his new gloves and shoes, Eugène de Rastignac forgot his noble resolve. Youth, when it swerves toward wrong, dares not look in the mirror of conscience; maturity has already seen itself there. That is the whole difference between the two phases of life.

Religious ecstasy is a madness of thought freed of its bodily bonds, whereas in the ecstasy of love, the forces of twin natures unite, blend and embrace one another.

Emulation is not rivalry. Emulation is the child of ambition; rivalry is the unlovable daughter of envy.

Materialism and spirituality are two pretty racquets with which charlatans in cap and gown make the same ball fly.

Man is no match for woman where mischief reigns.

Conventions are often more cruel than the law.