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.
— Moliere
A learned fool is more a fool than an ignorant fool.
As the purpose of comedy is to correct the vices of men, I see no reason why anyone should be exempt.
I prefer a pleasant vice to an annoying virtue.
People don't mind being mean; but they never want to be ridiculous.
I have the knack of easing scruples.
Reason is not what decides love.
Solitude terrifies the soul at twenty.
Ah! how annoying that the law doesn't allow a woman to change husbands just as one does shirts.
Writing is like prostitution. First you do it for love, and then for a few close friends, and then for money.
Don't appear so scholarly, pray. Humanize your talk, and speak to be understood.
The greater the obstacle, the more glory in overcoming it.
Books and marriage go ill together.
Oh, I may be devout, but I am human all the same.
It infuriates me to be wrong when I know I'm right.
If everyone were clothed with integrity, if every heart were just, frank, kindly, the other virtues would be well-nigh useless.
I live on good soup, not on fine words.
I want to be distinguished from the rest; to tell the truth, a friend to all mankind is not a friend for me.
Esteem must be founded on preference: to hold everyone in high esteem is to esteem nothing.
It's true Heaven forbids some pleasures, but a compromise can usually be found.
If you make yourself understood, you're always speaking well.
All which is not prose is verse; and all which is not verse is prose.
There are pretenders to piety as well as to courage.
It is the public scandal that offends; to sin in secret is no sin at all.
It is a strange enterprise to make respectable people laugh.
Every good act is charity. A man's true wealth hereafter is the good that he does in this world to his fellows.
Frenchmen have an unlimited capacity for gallantry and indulge it on every occasion.
People of quality know everything without ever having learned anything.
It is a fine seasoning for joy to think of those we love.
Love is often the fruit of marriage.
Unreasonable haste is the direct road to error.
There is no praise to bear the sort that you put in your pocket.
We die only once, and for such a long time.
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.
He who follows his lessons tastes a profound peace, and looks upon everybody as a bunch of manure.
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.
I have the fault of being a little more sincere than is proper.
One ought to look a good deal at oneself before thinking of condemning others.
To marry a fool is to be no fool.
I feed on good soup, not beautiful language.
True, Heaven prohibits certain pleasures; but one can generally negotiate a compromise.
Perfect reason flees all extremity, and leads one to be wise with sobriety.
The more we love our friends, the less we flatter them; it is by excusing nothing that pure love shows itself.
Of all follies there is none greater than wanting to make the world a better place.
A lover tries to stand in well with the pet dog of the house.
Grammar, which knows how to control even kings.
The duty of comedy is to correct men by amusing them.
The trees that are slow to grow bear the best fruit.
One should eat to live, not live to eat.
Oh, how fine it is to know a thing or two.
