What we have not had to decipher, to elucidate by our own efforts, what was clear before we looked at it, is not ours. From ourselves comes only that which we drag forth from the obscurity which lies within us, that which to others is unknown.

Le veritable voyage de decouverte ne consiste pas a chercher de nouveaux paysages, mais a avoir de nouveaux yeux. (The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes but in having new eyes.)

That which we remember of our conduct is ignored by our closest neighbour; but that which we have forgotten having said, or even what we never said, will cause laughter even into the next world.

Most of our faculties lie dormant because they can rely upon Habit, which knows what there is to be done and has no need of their services.

In love, happiness is an abnormal state.

...the nose is generally the organ in which stupidity is most readily displayed.

No man is a complete mystery except to himself.