Ruthless man: you begin by slaying the animal and then you devour it, as if to slay it twice. It is not enough. You turn against the dead flesh, it revolts you, it must be transformed by fire, boiled and roasted, seasoned and disguised with drugs; you must have butchers, cooks, turnspits, men who will rid the murder of its horrors, who will dress the dead bodies so that the taste decieved by these disguises will not reject what is strange to it, and will feast on corpses, the very sight of which would sicken you.

I loved too sincerely, too completely, I venture to say, to be able to be happy easily.

Even knaves may be made good for something.

Nature never deceives us; it is we who deceive ourselves.

Why should we build our happiness on the opinons of others, when we can find it in our own hearts?

We do not know what really good or bad fortune is.

Her dignity consists in being unknown to the world; her glory is in the esteem of her husband; her pleasures in the happiness of her family.