They had...finished their lives before their death - which is not always the end of life and often comes long before the end.

Happy men are grave. They carry their happiness cautiously, as they would a glass filled to the brim which the slightest movement could cause to spill over, or break.

Passions are less mischievous than boredom, for passions tend to diminish and boredom increase.

The crimes of extreme civilization are certainly more atrocious than those of extreme barbarism.

I did not want to be taken for a fool-the typical French reason for performing the worst of deeds without remorse.

Next to the wound, what women make best is the bandage.

We priests are the surgeons of souls, and it is our duty to deliver them of shameful secrets they would fain conceal, with hands careful to neither wound no pollute.