What matters in a character is not whether one holds this or that opinion: what matters is how proudly one upholds it.

How much past there is in a life, however brief it be.

What matters in a character is not whether one holds this or that opinion: what matters is how proudly one upholds it.

Men err from selfishness; women because they are weak.

No nation has the right to bring about a revolution, even though such a change may be most urgently needed, if the price is the blood of one single innocent individual.

Conversation as talent exists only in France. In other countries, conversation provides politeness, discussion, and friendship; in France, it is an art for which imagination and soul are certainly very welcome, but which can also provide its own secret remedies to compensate you for the absence of either or both, if you so desire.

We understand death only after it has placed its hands on someone we love.