The greater the obstacle, the more glory in overcoming it.
Moliere
We die only once, and for such a long time.
It is not only for what we do that we are held responsible, but also for what we do not do.
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.
One should eat to live, not live to eat.
The trees that are slow to grow bear the best fruit.
A learned fool is more a fool than an ignorant fool.
Of all the noises known to man, opera is the most expensive.
Every good act is charity. A man's true wealth hereafter is the good that he does in this world to his fellows.
Unreasonable haste is the direct road to error.
Writing is like prostitution. First you do it for love, and then for a few close friends, and then for money.
It is a fine seasoning for joy to think of those we love.
I live on good soup, not on fine words.
I prefer a pleasant vice to an annoying virtue.
Grammar, which knows how to control even kings.
The duty of comedy is to correct men by amusing them.
It infuriates me to be wrong when I know I'm right.
Love is often the fruit of marriage.
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.
The more we love our friends, the less we flatter them; it is by excusing nothing that pure love shows itself.
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.
There's nothing quite like tobacco: it's the passion of decent folk, and whoever lives without tobacco doesn't deserve to live.
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.
As the purpose of comedy is to correct the vices of men, I see no reason why anyone should be exempt.
If you suppress grief too much, it can well redouble.
It is the public scandal that offends; to sin in secret is no sin at all.
All which is not prose is verse; and all which is not verse is prose.
Esteem must be founded on preference: to hold everyone in high esteem is to esteem nothing.
Don't appear so scholarly, pray. Humanize your talk, and speak to be understood.
He who follows his lessons tastes a profound peace, and looks upon everybody as a bunch of manure.
If everyone were clothed with integrity, if every heart were just, frank, kindly, the other virtues would be well-nigh useless.
A lover tries to stand in well with the pet dog of the house.
I have the knack of easing scruples.
People of quality know everything without ever having learned anything.
Perfect reason flees all extremity, and leads one to be wise with sobriety.
Reason is not what decides love.
There are pretenders to piety as well as to courage.
True, Heaven prohibits certain pleasures; but one can generally negotiate a compromise.
Solitude terrifies the soul at twenty.
Oh, I may be devout, but I am human all the same.
If you make yourself understood, you're always speaking well.
Of all follies there is none greater than wanting to make the world a better place.
Books and marriage go ill together.
Ah! how annoying that the law doesn't allow a woman to change husbands just as one does shirts.
To marry a fool is to be no fool.
Frenchmen have an unlimited capacity for gallantry and indulge it on every occasion.
I have the fault of being a little more sincere than is proper.
I feed on good soup, not beautiful language.
There is no praise to bear the sort that you put in your pocket.
One ought to look a good deal at oneself before thinking of condemning others.
