Quotes of All Topics . Occasions . Authors
You have but to hold forth in cap and gown, and any gibberish becomes learning, all nonsense passes for sense.
Every good act is charity. A man's true wealth hereafter is the good that he does in this world to his fellows.
Esteem must be founded on some sort of preference. Bestow it on everybody and it ceases to have any meaning at all.
I want people to be sincere; a man of honor shouldn't speak a single word that doesn't come straight from his heart.
You never see the old austerity That was the essence of civility; Young people hereabouts, unbridled, now Just want.
And knowing money is a root of evil, in Christian charity, he'd take away whatever things may hinder your salvation.
No one is safe from slander. The best way is to pay no attention to it, but live in innocence and let the world talk.
Gold is the key, whatever else we try; and that sweet metal aids the conqueror in every case, in love as well as war.
Everything that's prose isn't verse and everything that isn't verse is prose. Now you see what it is to be a scholar!
I hate all men, the ones because they are mean and vicious, and the others for being complaisant with the vicious ones.
How easily a fathers tenderness is recalled, and how quickly a son's offenses vanish at the slightest word of repentance!
We must take the good with the bad; For the good when it's good, is so very good That the bad when it's bad can't be bad!
To find yourself jilted is a blow to your pride. Do your best to forget it and if you don't succeed, at least pretend to.
Show some mercy to this chair which has stretched out its arms to you for so long; please satisfy its desire to embrace you!
Rest assured that there is nothing which wounds the heart of a noble man more deeply than the thought his honour is assailed.
If everyone were clothed with integrity, if every heart were just, frank, kindly, the other virtues would be well-nigh useless.
There's nothing quite like tobacco: it's the passion of decent folk, and whoever lives without tobacco doesn't deserve to live.
The only people who can be excused for letting a bad book loose on the world are the poor devils who have to write for a living.
Birth is nothing without virtue, and we have no claim to share in the glory of our ancestors unless we endeavor to resemble them.
A wise man is superior to any insults which can be put upon him, and the best reply to unseemly behavior is patience and moderation.
There is something inexpressibly charming in falling in love and, surely, the whole pleasure lies in the fact that love isn't lasting.
The art of flatterers is to take advantage of the foibles of the great, to foster their errors, and never to give advice which may annoy.
There is no reward so delightful, no pleasure so exquisite, as having one's work known and acclaimed by those whose applause confers honor.
Once you have the cap and gown all you need do is open your mouth. Whatever nonsense you talk becomes wisdom and all the rubbish good sense.
There's nothing people can't contrive to praise or condemn and find justification for doing so, according to their age and their inclinations.
There's a sort of decency among the dead, a remarkable discretion: you never find them making any complaint against the doctor who killed them!
We live under a prince who is an enemy to fraud, a prince whose eyes penetrate into the heart, and whom all the art of impostors can't deceive.
I have a heart to love all the world; and like Alexander I wish there were yet other worlds, so I could carry even further my amorous conquests.
The maturing process of becoming a writer is akin to that of a harlot. First you do it for love, then for a few friends, and finally only for money.
I maintain, in truth, That with a smile we should instruct our youth, Be very gentle when we have to blame, And not put them in fear of virtue's name.
No reason makes it right To shun accepted ways from stubborn spite; And we may better join the foolish crowd Than cling to wisdom, lonely though unbowed.
In order to prove a friend to one's guests, frugality must reign in one's meals; and, according to an ancient saying, one must eat to live, not live to eat.
The more powerful the obstacle, the more glory we have in overcoming it; and the difficulties with which we are met are the maids of honor which set off virtue.
There is no fate more distressing for an artist than to have to show himself off before fools, to see his work exposed to the criticism of the vulgar and ignorant.
It may cost me twenty thousand francs; but for twenty thousand francs, I will have the right to rail against the iniquity of humanity, and to devote to it my eternal hatred.
In clothes as well as speech, the man of sense Will shun all these extremes that give offense, Dress unaffectedly, and, without haste, Follow the changes in the current taste.
To inspire love is a woman's greatest ambition, believe me. It's the one thing woman care about and there's no woman so proud that she does not rejoice at heart in her conquests.
No matter what Aristotle and the Philosophers say, nothing is equal to tobacco; it's the passion of the well-bred, and he who lives without tobacco lives a life not worth living.
Then worms shall try That long preserved virginity, And your quaint honor turn to dust, And into ashes all my lust. The grave's a fine and private place But none, I think, do there embrace.
Betrayed and wronged in everything, I’ll flee this bitter world where vice is king, And seek some spot unpeopled and apart Where I’ll be free to have an honest heart. - Molière, The Misanthrope
All the ills of mankind, all the tragic misfortunes that fill the history books, all the political blunders, all the failures of the great leaders have arisen merely from a lack of skill at dancing.
All the satires of the stage should be viewed without discomfort. They are public mirrors, where we are never to admit that we seeourselves; one admits to a fault when one is scandalized by its censure.
Some of the most famous books are the least worth reading. Their fame was due to their having done something that needed to be doing in their day. The work is done and the virtue of the book has expired.
Doubts are more cruel than the worst of truths. It is not only for what we do that we are held responsible, but also for what we do not do. A lover whose passion is extreme loves even the faults of the beloved
It is fine for a woman to know a lot; but I don't want her to have this shocking desire to be learned for learnedness sake. When I ask a woman a question, I like her to pretend to ignore what she really knows.
The defects of human nature afford us opportunities of exercising our philosophy, the best employment of our virtues. If all men were righteous, all hearts true and frank and loyal, what use would our virtues be?
The most effective way of attacking vice is to expose it to public ridicule. People can put up with rebukes but they cannot bear being laughed at: they are prepared to be wicked but they dislike appearing ridiculous.
The general public is easy. You don't have to answer to anyone; and as long as you follow the rules of your profession, you needn't worry about the consequences. But the problem with the powerful and rich is that when they are sick, they really want their doctors to cure them.
What! Would you make no distinction between hypocrisy and devotion? Would you give them the same names, and respect the mask as you do the face? Would you equate artifice and sincerity? Confound appearance with truth? Regard the phantom as the very person? Value counterfeit as cash?
We ought always to conform to the manners of the greater number, and so behave as not to draw attention to ourselves. Excess either way shocks, and every man truly wise ought to attend to this in his dress as well as language, never to be affected in anything and follow without being in too great haste the changes of fashion.