One does not see anything until one sees its beauty.

As for omens, there is no such thing as an omen. Destiny does not send us heralds. She is too wise or too cruel for that.

I never travel without my diary. One should always have something sensational to read in the train.

Patriotism is the virtue of the vicious.

The worst of it is that I am perpetually being punished for nothing; this governor loves to punish, and he punishes by taking my books away from me. It's perfectly awful to let the mind grind itself away between the upper and nether millstones of regret and remorse without respite; with books my life would be livable -- any life.

The secret of life is in art.

It is only about things that do not interest one that one can give a really unbiased opinion, which is no doubt the reason why an unbiased opinion is always absolutely valueless.