The majority of husbands remind me of an orangutan trying to play the violin. marriage
The smallest flower is a thought, a life answering to some feature of the Great Whole, of whom they have a persistent intuition. greatness
Behind every great fortune lies a great crime. greatness
A good husband is never the first to go to sleep at night or the last to awake in the morning. being good, marriage & morning
Clouds symbolize the veils that shroud God. God
Men die in despair, while spirits die in ecstasy. men
Marriage must incessantly contend with a monster that devours everything: familiarity. marriage
Love may be or it may not, but where it is, it ought to reveal itself in its immensity. love
Death unites as well as separates it silences all paltry feeling. death
There is no such thing as a great talent without great will power. greatness & power
Nature makes only dumb animals. We owe the fools to society. nature & society
One should believe in marriage as in the immortality of the soul. anniversary & marriage
A mother who is really a mother is never free. parenting
First love is a kind of vaccination which saves a man from catching the complaint the second time. time
What is art? Nature concentrated. art & nature
It is only in the act of nursing that a woman realizes her motherhood in visible and tangible fashion it is a joy of every moment. motherhood
A mother's happiness is like a beacon, lighting up the future but reflected also on the past in the guise of fond memories. the future, happiness & Mother's Day
Towns find it as hard as houses of business to rise again from ruin. business
Power is action the electoral principle is discussion. No political action is possible when discussion is permanently established. power
Nothing so fortifies a friendship as a belief on the part of one friend that he is superior to the other. friendship
Political liberty, the peace of a nation, and science itself are gifts for which Fate demands a heavy tax in blood! peace & science
Equality may perhaps be a right, but no power on earth can ever turn it into a fact. equality & power
There is something great and terrible about suicide. greatness
There are some women whose pregnancy would make some sly bachelor smile. smile & women
We exaggerate misfortune and happiness alike. We are never as bad off or as happy as we say we are. happiness
I do not regard a broker as a member of the human race. finance
Children, dear and loving children, can alone console a woman for the loss of her beauty. being alone & beauty
Ideas devour the ages as men are devoured by their passions. When man is cured, human nature will cure itself perhaps. men & nature
Suicide, moreover, was at the time in vogue in Paris: what more suitable key to the mystery of life for a skeptical society? society & time
No man should marry until he has studied anatomy and dissected at least one woman. marriage
Laws are spider webs through which the big flies pass and the little ones get caught. the law
Many men are deeply moved by the mere semblance of suffering in a woman they take the look of pain for a sign of constancy or of love. men
Wisdom is that apprehension of heavenly things to which the spirit rises through love. wisdom
The motto of chivalry is also the motto of wisdom to serve all, but love only one. love & wisdom
All humanity is passion without passion, religion, history, novels, art would be ineffectual. art, history & religion
Passion is universal humanity. Without it religion, history, romance and art would be useless. art, history & religion
Great love affairs start with Champagne and end with tisane. greatness
Power is not revealed by striking hard or often, but by striking true. power
The heart of a mother is a deep abyss at the bottom of which you will always find forgiveness. forgiveness
To those who have exhausted politics, nothing remains but abstract thought. politics
Love is the poetry of the senses. love & poetry
A woman knows the face of the man she loves as a sailor knows the open sea. love
Finance, like time, devours its own children. finance
The art of motherhood involves much silent, unobtrusive self-denial, an hourly devotion which finds no detail too minute. art
When Religion and Royalty are swept away, the people will attack the great, and after the great, they will fall upon the rich. greatness & religion
Society bristles with enigmas which look hard to solve. It is a perfect maze of intrigue. society
A grocer is attracted to his business by a magnetic force as great as the repulsion which renders it odious to artists. business & greatness
The most virtuous women have something within them, something that is never chaste. women
If we could but paint with the hand what we see with the eye. art
Small natures require despotism to exercise their sinews, as great souls thirst for equality to give play to their heart. equality & greatness
At fifteen, beauty and talent do not exist there can only be promise of the coming woman. beauty
A young bride is like a plucked flower but a guilty wife is like a flower that had been walked over. wedding
Nobody loves a woman because she is handsome or ugly, stupid or intelligent. We love because we love. love