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Stendhal

Marie-Henri Beyle, better known by his pen name Stendhal, was a 19th-century French writer. Known for his acute analysis of his characters' psychology, he is considered one of the earliest and foremost practitioners of realism in his two novels

Le Rouge et le Noir

(The Red and the Black, 1830) and

La Chartreuse de Parme

(The Charterhouse of Parma, 1839).


“The idea which tyrants find most useful is the idea of God.”
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“La tyrannie de l'opinion, et quelle opinion! est aussi bête dans les petites villes de France, qu'aux États-Unis d'Amérique.”
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“Julien cherchait a ne pas s'exagerer cette cinguliere amitie. Il la comparait lui-meme a un commerce arme. Chaque jour en se retrouvant, avant de reprendre le tonpreque intime de la veille, on se demandait presque: Serons-nous aujourd'hui amis ou ennemis?”
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“O musculiță efemeră se naște la nouă dimineață, în lungile zile de vară, ca să moară la cinci seara; cum ar putea ea înțelege cuvântul noapte? Mai dă-i cinci ore de viață, și ea va vedea și va înțelege ce e noaptea.”
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“Cea mai mare nenorocire în închisoare este că nu-ți poți încuia ușa.”
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“I will never demean myself to speak about my courage," said Julien, coldly, "it would be mean to do so. Let the world judge by the facts.”
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“Je ne vois que las condamnation a mort qui distingue un homme, pensa Mathilde, c'est la seule chose qui ne s'achete pas.Ah! c'est un bon mot que je viens de me dire! quel dommage qu'il ne soit pas venu de facon a m'en faire honneur. Mathilde avait trop de gout pour amener dans la conversation un bon mot fait d'avance, mais elle avait aussie trop de vanite pour ne pas etre enchantee d'elle-meme.”
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“Rien au monde n'est beau, admirable, attrendrissant comme les paysages anglais.”
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“Eh monsieur, un roman est un miroir qui se promène sur une grande route.”
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“Nebuniile acestea vă miră fără a vă cuceri.”
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“Es la violenta impresion de lo feo sobre u n alma destinada a amar lo bello.”
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“Kakva je to ljubav od koje se zeva?”
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“Evo ti cijelog mog političkog života: volim glazbu i slikarstvo, a dobra je knjiga za mene doživljaj.”
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“Kad netko vrši zločine, treba barem da ih vrši s užitkom; to je jedino dobro na njima i samo se time mogu donekle opravdati.”
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“Posséder n'est rien, c'est jouir qui fait tout.”
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“¡Quién iba a decirme que yo iba a encontrar placer en llorar! ¡Que yo iba a sentir cariño por quien precisamente me demuestra que soy un tonto!”
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“An absence of mistrust is not enough; there must be a weariness of mistrusting, and, as it were, courage must be impatient with the hazards of life. You are unconsciously bored by living without loving, and convinced in spite of yourself by the examples of others. You have overcome all life's fears, and are no longer content with the gloomy happiness which pride affords: you have conceived an ideal without knowing it.”
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“Un bon livre est un événement pour moi.”
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“Feminine delicacy was carried to excess in Mme de Renal.”
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“...duelul nu e decât o ceremonie. Totul e ştiut dinainte, chiar şi ce trebuie să spui când cazi. Întins pe iarbă, cu mâna pe inimă, trebuie să rosteşti cuvinte mărinimoase de iertare pentru adversar şi câteva fraze pentru o iubită imaginară, sau care în ziua morţii sale se duce la bal ca să nu trezească bănuielile.”
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“Mathilde ura din tot sufletul lipsa de caracter; acesta era singurul cusur de care îi învinuia pe frumoşii tineridin preajma.”
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“Ce iubire mai e aceea care te face sa casti?”
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“Nici nu ar fi numit iubire decat acel sentiment eroic ce se putea intalni in Franta lui Henric al III-lea si Bassompierre, sentiment care nu ceda in fata obstacolelor, ba, departe de asa ceva, dadea nastere unor lucruri marete.”
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“Risipea sute de ludovici şi intenta procese pentru sute de franci. Bogătaşii care au o fire mândră caută distracţia şi nu câştigul în afaceri.”
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“The boredom of married life inevitable destroys love, when love has preceded marriage.”
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“Dar la ce bun să-i numim duşmanii prieteni? Lucrul acesta e urât, şi cu atât mai urât cu cât e mai adevărat. Şi totuşi, acolo se află singurii profesori de morală pe care îi avem, iar fără ei, ce ne-am face?”
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“Un drum e oare mai puţin frumos fiindcă sunt spini în tufişurile de pe margini? Călătorul trece mai departe şi lasă spinii urâcioşi să rebegească în drum.”
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“Dupa ce-l invatase sa judece si sa nu se lase amagit de vorbe goale, uitase sa-i spuna ca, pentru un om de rand, obiceiul acesta e o crima; caci orice judecata sanatoasa jigneste.”
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“Am trăit îndeajuns ca să văd că deosebirea dă naştere la ură.”
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“If you think of paying court to those in power, your eternal ruin is assured.”
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“La bonne musique ne se trompe pas, et va droit au fond de l'âme chercher le chagrin qui nous dévore.”
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“Dragostea nu-i fu doar admiratie în fata frumusetii, ci orgoliul ca era a lui.”
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“All religions are founded on the fear of the many and the cleverness of the few.”
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“aşk insanları birbirine eşitler, sakın denemeyin.”
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“It seemed to Julian that there was far too much hair in his wig.”
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“Exalted by a sentiment of which she was proud, and that overcame all her arrogance, she was reluctant to let a moment of her life go by without occupying it with some remarkable deed.”
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“But, if I sample this pleasure so prudently and circumspectly, it will no longer be a pleasure.”
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“Your career will be a painful one. I divine something in you which offends the vulgar.”
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“Soupçonner qu'un rival est aimé est déjà bien cruel, mais se voir avouer en détail l'amour qu'il inspire à la femme qu'on adore est sans doute le comble des douleurs.”
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“Je vois en toi quelque chose qui offense le vulgaire.”
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“…All right, two mornings from now I’ll fight a duel with a fellow known for his calm collectedness and remarkable skill…’Very remarkable,’ said his Mephistophelian side. ‘He never misses.”
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“Am I capable of deceiving my friend?” Julien asked himself peevishly. This being, for whom hypocrisy and an absence of all sympathy were the usual methods of protecting himself, could not bear, this time, the thought of the slightest trickiness in dealing with a man for whom he had friendly feelings.”
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“Un des moments les plus pénibles de sa vie était celui où, chaque matin, en s'éveillant, il s'apprenait son malheur.”
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“- J'ai horreur de m'être livrée au premier venu, dit Mathilde, en pleurant de rage contre elle-même.- Au premier venu! s'écria Julien, et il s'élança sur une vieille épée du moyen âge [...] Il eût été le plus heureux des hommes de pouvoir la tuer.”
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“...one of the traits of genius is not to drag its thought through the rut worn by vulgar minds.”
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“Je ne veux désormais collectionner que les moments de bonheur.”
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“Monfleury est en vente, je perds cinquante mille francs, s'il le faut, mais je suis tout joyeux, je quitte cet enfer d'hypocrisie et de tracasseries. Je vais chercher la solitude et la paix champêtre au seul lieu où elles existent en France, dans un quatrième étage donnant sur les Champs-Élysées.”
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“There are as many styles of beauty as there are visions of happiness.”
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“La politique dans une oeuvre littéraire, c'est un coup de pistolet au milieu d'un concert, quelque chose de grossier et auquel pourtant il n'est pas possible de refuser son attention.”
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“Want of exercise was beginning to affect his health and to give him the weak and excitable character of a young German student.”
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