Music-hall songs provide the dull with wit, just as proverbs provide them with wisdom.

It is good to be on your guard against an Englishman who speaks French perfectly; he is very likely to be a card-sharper or an attache in the diplomatic service.

Make him laugh and he will think you a trivial fellow, but bore him in the right way and your reputation is assured.

Life is really very fantastic, and one has to have a peculiar sense of humour to see the fun of it. [Virtue]

Self-control might be as passionate and as active as the surrender to passion.

A mother only does her children harm if she makes them the only concern of her life.

I prefer a loose woman to a selfish one and a wanton to a fool.