I have the knack of easing scruples.

All the satires of the stage should be viewed without discomfort. They are public mirrors, where we are never to admit that we seeourselves; one admits to a fault when one is scandalized by its censure.

There's nothing quite like tobacco: it's the passion of decent folk, and whoever lives without tobacco doesn't deserve to live.

Malicious tongues spread their poison abroad and nothing here below is proof against them.

It is madness beyond compare To try to reform the world.

All the ills of mankind, all the tragic misfortunes that fill the history books, all the political blunders, all the failures of the great leaders have arisen merely from a lack of skill at dancing.

Everything that's prose isn't verse and everything that isn't verse is prose. Now you see what it is to be a scholar!