Men are perfectly willing to abandon a woman but they refuse to be abandoned by her.

Authentic love always assumes the mystery of modesty, even in its expression, because actions speak louder than words. Unlike a feigned love, it feels no need to set a conflagration.

For certain people, misfortune is a beacon that lights up the dark and baser sides of social life.

Inspiration is the opportunity of genius.

The fact is that love is of two kinds, one which commands, and one which obeys. The two are quite distinct, and the passion to which the one gives rise is not the passion of the other.

A year at the breast is quite enough; children who are suckled longer are said to grow stupid, and I am all for popular sayings.

One admirable trait in women is their lack of illusions about themselves. They never reason about their most blameworthy actions; their feelings carry them away. Even their dissimulation comes naturally to them, and in them crime is free of all baseness. Most of the time they simply do not know how it happened.