[On Russia:] In every way, there is something gigantic about this people: ordinary dimensions have no applications whatever to it. I do not mean by this that true greatness and stability are never met with; but their boldness, their imaginativeness knows no bounds. With them everything is colossal rather than well-proportioned, audacious rather than well-considered, and if they do not attain their goals, it is because they exceed them.

Men have made of fortune an all-powerful goddess, in order that she may be made responsible for all their blunder's.

Love is admiring with the heart. And admiring is loving with the mind.

It is not enough to forgive; one must forget.

Politeness is the art of choosing among your thoughts.

There are women vain of advantages not connected with their persons, such as birth, rank, and fortune; it is difficult to feel less the dignity of the sex. The origin of all women may be called celestial, for their power is the offspring of the gifts of Nature; by yielding to pride and ambition they soon destroy the magic of their charms.

One must choose in life between boredom and suffering.