A Thousand Flashes of French Wit, Wisdom, and Wickedness

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D. Appleton, 1880 - 251 pages
 

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Page 42 - What a chimera then is man! what a confused chaos! what a subject of contradiction! a professed judge of all things, and yet a feeble worm of the earth! the great depositary and guardian of truth, and yet a mere huddle of uncertainty! the glory and the scandal of the universe!
Page 61 - To live is not merely to breathe, it is to act. It is to make use of our organs, of our senses, of our faculties, of all the powers which bear witness to us of our own existence.
Page 133 - If as much care were taken to perpetuate a race of fine men as is done to prevent the mixture of ignoble blood in horses and dogs, the genealogy of every one would be written on his face and displayed in his manners.
Page 91 - It is easier to be a lover than a husband, for the same reason that it is more difficult to be witty every day, than to say bright things from time to time.
Page 26 - The husband who leaves nothing to desire is a lost man. LIII. The married woman is a slave whom one must know how to set upon a throne.
Page 103 - To continue love in marriage is a science. It requires so little to kill those sweet emotions, those precious illusions, which form the charm of life; and it is so difficult to maintain a man at the height on which an exalted passion has placed him, especially when that man is one's husband.

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