Art ... is as much a source of happiness for the beginner as for the master. One forgets everything in one's work.

They who see only what they wish to see in those around them are very fortunate.

When one misses an opportunity one is apt to fancy that another will never present itself.

Time is the most terrible, the most discouraging, the most unconquerable of all obstacles, and one that may exist when no other does.

To a woman who knows her own mind men can only be a minor consideration.

To live, to have so much ambition, to suffer, to cry, to fight and, at the end, forgetfulness ... as if I had never existed.

one life would not suffice, mine especially. To touch everything and leave nothing after oneself! Ah! my God! I hope better than that. Ah! I am very cowardly, and under the blow of such a terror I am ready to believe in priests.