[Ridicule] laughs at all those who see the earnestness of life and who still believe in true feelings and in serious thought ... It soils the hope of youth. Only shameless vice is above its reach.
Madame de StaelThe sense of this word among the Greeks affords the noblest definition of it; enthusiasm signifies 'God in us.'
Madame de StaelA voyage without companionship, that is to say without conversation, is one of the saddest pleasures of life.
Madame de Stael