The prestige you acquire by being able to tell your friends that you know famous men proves only that you are yourself of small account.

Perfect is determined in shortened measures of time, not over long periods of time or lifetimes. It would be unnatural.

He did not care upon what terms he satisfied his passion. He had even a mad, melodramatic idea to drug her.

Tradition is a guide and not a jailer.

Only mediocre people are at the best all the time.

They say a woman always remembers her first lover with affection; but perhaps she does not always remember him.

He exulted in the possession of himself once more; he realized how much of the delight of the world he had lost when he was absorbed in that madness which they called love; he had had enough of it; he did not want to be in love anymore if love was that.