Wisdom is that apprehension of heavenly things to which the spirit rises through love.

I am a galley slave to pen and ink.

Yet, if you have a heart, lock it carefully away like a treasure; do not let any one suspect it, or you will be lost; you would cease to be the executioner, you would take the victim's place.

I prefer thought to action, an idea to a transaction, contemplation to activity.

It is the mark of a great man that he puts to flight all ordinary calculations. He is at once sublime and touching, childlike and of the race of giants.

Madame de Nucingen was already there, dressed with the deliberate aim of appealing to all eyes, knowing that thereby she would seem even more attractive to Eugène.

Vocations which we wanted to pursue, but didn't, bleed, like colors, on the whole of our existence.