Talent, like beauty, to be pardoned, must be obscure and unostentatious.

The chief prerequisite for a escort is to have a flexible conscience and an inflexible politeness.

Happiness is a rare plant that seldom takes root on earth-few ever enjoyed it, except for a brief period; the search after it is rarely rewarded by the discovery, but there is an admirable substitute for it... a contented spirit.

The difference between weakness and wickedness is much less than people suppose; and the consequences are nearly always the same.

Some people are capable of making great sacrifices, but few are capable of concealing how much the effort has cost them; and it is this concealment that constitutes their value.

Arles is certainly one of the most interesting towns I have ever seen, whether viewed as a place remarkable for the objects of antiquity it contains, or for the primitive manners of its inhabitants and its picturesque appearance.

We are more prone to murmur at the punishment of our faults than to lament them.