» It takes time for the absent to assume their true shape in our thoughts. After death they take on a firmer outline and then cease to change.
» Voluptuaries, consumed by their senses, always begin by flinging themselves with a great display of frenzy into an abyss. But they survive, they come to the surface again. And they develop a routine of the abyss: ''It's four o clock. At five I have my abyss... ''
» Shall we never have done with that cliche, so stupid that it could only be human, about the sympathy of animals for man when he is unhappy? Animals love happiness almost as much as we do. A fit of crying disturbs them, they'll sometimes imitate sobbing, and for a moment they'll reflect our sadness. But they flee unhappiness as they flee fever, and I believe that in the long run they are capable of boycotting it.
» It is not a bad thing that children should occasionally, and politely, put parents in their place.
» You will do foolish things, but do them with enthusiasm.
» You do not notice changes in what is always before you.
» One keeps forgetting old age up to the very brink of the grave.
» You must not pity me because my sixtieth year finds me still astonished. To be astonished is one of the surest ways of not growing old too quickly.
» On this narrow planet, we have only the choice between two unknown worlds. One of them tempts us --ah! what a dream, to live in that! --the other stifles us at the first breath.
» It is wise to apply the oil of refined politeness to the mechanism of friendship.