The birds did not understand a single word of what he was saying, but that made no matter, for they put their heads on one side, and looked wise, which is quite as good as understanding a thing, and very much easier.

The people who have adored me-- there have not been very many, but there have been some-- have always insisted on living on, long after I had ceased to care for them, or they to care for me.

The only proper intoxication is conversation.

The only way to get rid of a temptation is to yield to it. Resist it, and your soul grows sick with longing for the things it has forbidden to itself, with desire for what its monstrous laws have made monstrous and unlawful.

Talk to a woman as if you loved her, and to a man as if he bored you.

It is very vulgar to talk about one's own business. Only people like stockbrokers do that, and then only at dinner parties.

I adore simple pleasures. They are the last refuge of the complex.