Sébastien-Roch Nicolas Quotes
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In great matters, men behave as they are expected to; in little ones, as they would naturally
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Wicked people sometimes perform good actions. I suppose they wish to see if this gives as great a feeling of pleasure as the virtuous claim for it.
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Love, a pleasant folly; ambition, a serious stupidity.
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Society would be a charming affair if we were only interested in one another.
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Though we best know and cannot deny our imperfections, it is not for us to lose our self-reliance and true manhood.
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Woman's weakness, not man's merit, oftenest gains the suitor's victory.
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Every woman in choosing a lover takes more account of the way in which other women regard the man than of her own.
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Do not suppose opportunity will knock twice at your door.
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Preoccupation with money is the great test of small natures, but only a small test of great ones.
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Contemplation often makes life miserable. We should act more, think less, and stop watching ourselves live.
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It is commonly supposed that the art of pleasing is a wonderful aid in the pursuit of fortune; but the art of being bored is infinitely more successful.
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Women of the world crave excitement.
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False modesty is the most decent of all lies.
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An author is often obscure to the reader because they proceed from the thought to expression than like the reader from the expression to the thought.
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It is said of a lonely man that he does not appreciate the life of society. This is like saying he hates hiking because he dislikes walking in thick forest on a dark night.
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And so I leave this world, where the heart must either break or turn to lead (suicide note)
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Your intelligence often bears the same relation to your heart as the library of a chateau does to its owner.
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Society ... is nothing more than the war of a thousand petty opposed interests, an eternal strife of all the vanities, which, turn in turn wounded and humiliated one by the other, intercross, come into collision, and on the morrow expiate the triumph of the eve in the bitterness of defeat. To live alone, to remain unjostled in this miserable struggle, where for a moment one draws the eyes of the spectators, to be crushed a moment later -- this is what is called being a nonentity, having no existence. Poor humanity!
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To enjoy and give enjoyment, without injury to yourself or others; this is true morality.
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Public opinion is the worst of all opinions.
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Be my brother or I will kill you.
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Secrecy is best taught by starting with ourselves.
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If a woman were about to proceed to her execution, she would demand a little time to perfect her toilet.
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Society is divided into two classes, the shearers and the shorn.