A happy childhood is poor preparation for human contacts.

There are no ordinary cats.

In its early stages, insomnia is almost an oasis in which those who have to think or suffer darkly take refuge.

January, month of empty pockets! let us endure this evil month, anxious as a theatrical producer's forehead.

It is wise to apply the oil of refined politeness to the mechanisms of friendship.

But what is the heart, madame? It's worth less than people think. it's quite accommodating, it accepts anything. You give it whatever you have, it's not very particular. But the body... Ha! That's something else again! It has a cultivated taste, as they say, it knows what it wants. A heart doesn't choose, and one always ends up by loving.

As for an authentic villain, the real thing, the absolute, the artist, one rarely meets him even once in a lifetime. The ordinary bad hat is always in part a decent fellow.