Every great action is extreme when it is undertaken. Only after it has been accomplished does it seem possible to those creatures of more common stuff.
A novel is like a bow, and the violin that produces the sound is the reader's soul.
If you think of paying court to the men in power, your eternal ruin is assured.
The Russians imitate French ways, but always at a distance of fifty years.
It is better to have a prosaic husband and to take a romantic lover.
A woman of generous character will sacrifice her life a thousand times over for her lover, but will break with him for ever over a question of pride.