We are always in a hurry to be happy...; for when we have suffered a long time, we have great difficulty in believing in good fortune.
There is nothing more galling to angry people than the coolness of those on whom they wish to vent their spleen.
There are men who have suffered and who have not only gone on living, but even built a new fortune on the ruins of their former happiness. From the depths into which their enemies have plunged them, t...
Sólo el que ha experimentado el colmo del infortunio puede sentir la felicidad suprema
On the 24th of February, 1810, the look-out at Notre-Dame de la Garde signalled the three-master, the Pharaon from Smyrna, Trieste, and Naples.
No, Maximilien, I am not offended, answered she, but do you not see what a poor, helpless being I am, almost a stranger and an outcast in my father's house, where even he is seldom seen; whose will ha...
Monsieur Man-in-a-hurry, you can find me without running—ME, you understand?
Life is a chaplet of little miseries which the philosopher counts with a smile. Be philosophers, as I am, gentlemen; sit down at the table and let us drink. Nothing makes the future look so bright as...
It was one of those rare and beautiful days in winter when England remembers that there is a sun. The star of the day, pale but nevertheless still splendid, was setting in the horizon, glorifying at o...
It is not the tree that forsakes the flower, but the flower that forsakes the tree.
In politics, my dear fellow, you know, as well as I do, there are no men, but ideas — no feelings, but interests; in politics we do not kill a man, we only remove an obstacle, that is all.
I have always had more dread of a pen, a bottle of ink, and a sheet of paper than of a sword or pistol.
I do not often laugh, sir, as you may perceive by the air of my countenance; but nevertheless, I retain the privilege of laughing when I please.
I am orderly out of spirit of idleness, to save myself the trouble of looking after things...
Hatred is blind; rage carries you away; and he who pours out vengeance runs the risk of tasting a bitter draught.
Great is the truth, fire can not burn, nor water can drown it!
Come here, Grimaud, said Athos. To punish you for having spoken without leave my friend, you must eat this piece of paper: then, to reward you for the service which you will have rendered us, you shal...
But, it is well known, what strikes the capricious mind of the poet is not always what affects the mass of readers.
But Valentine, why despair, why always paint the future in such sombre hues? Maximilien asked. Because, my friend, I judge it by the past.
Before one is afraid, one sees clearly; while one is afraid, one sees double; and after being afraid, one sees dimly.