There are no elements so diverse that they cannot be joined in the heart of a man.

Everyone always dies for his country. If you have lived in it, well and wisely and actively, you die for it too.

The flower is the poetry of reproduction. It is an example of the eternal seductiveness of life.

I believe in the gods; or rather I believe that I believe in the gods. But I don't believe that they are great brooding presences watching over us; I believe they are completely absent minded.

I remember a time when a cabbage could sell itself by being a cabbage. Nowadays it’s no good being a cabbage – unless you have an agent and pay him a commission. Nothing is free anymore to sell itself or give itself away. These days, Countess, every cabbage has its pimp.

I have been a woman for fifty years, and I've never yet been able to discover precisely what it is I am.

Only the mediocre die always at their best. Real leaders are always improving - and raising their bar on how superbly they can perform and how quickly they can move.