The gods have been good to you. But what the gods give they quickly take away. You have only a few years in which to live really, perfectly, and fully. When your youth goes, your beauty will go with it, and then you will suddenly discover that there are no triumphs left for you, or have to content yourself with those mean triumphs that the memory of your past will make more bitter than defeats. Every month as it wanes bring you nearer to something dreadful. Time is jealous of you, and wars against your lilies and your roses.

To speak frankly, I am not in favour of long engagements. They give people the opportunity of finding out each other's character before marriage, which I think is never advisable.

The true artist is known by what he annexes, and he annexes everything.

The great events of the world take place in the brain.

To live is the rarest thing in the world. Most people exist, that is all.

It is better to have a permanent income than to be fascinating.

For one moment our lives met, our souls touched.