She had caprices of a marvellous unexpectedness, and how is any one to imitate a caprice?

Now that the steam engine rules the world, a title is an absurdity, still I am all dressed up in this title. It will crush me if Ido not support it. The title attracts attention to myself.

Because one has little fear of shocking vanity in Italy, people adopt an intimate tone very quickly and discuss personal things.

An English traveller relates how he lived upon intimate terms with a tiger; he had reared it and used to play with it, but always kept a loaded pistol on the table.

Every true passion thinks only of itself.

The first virtue of a young man today - that is, for the next fifty years perhaps, as long as we live in fear, and religion has regained its powers - is to be incapable of enthusiasm and not to have much in the way of brains.

I am mad, I am going under, I must follow the advice of a friend, and pay no heed to myself.