“We owe to the Middle Ages the two worst inventions of humanity – gunpowder and romantic love. ”

“Two human beings anchored to one another are like two ships shaken by waves; their carcases collide with one another and creak.”

“In literature as in love, we are astonished at what is chosen by others.”

“Old age is far more than white hair, wrinkles, the feeling that it is too late and the game is finished, that the stage belongs to the rising generations. The true evil is not the weakening of the body, but the indifference of the soul.”

“The friendship of two young people,' says Goethe somewhere, 'is delightful when the girl likes to learn and the boy to teach.' It will perhaps be said that this virgin curiosity is no more than unconscious physical desire; but what does it matter, if this desire sharpens the mind and deadens conceit?”

“Often we allow ourselves to be upset by small things we should despise and forget. We lose many irreplaceable hours brooding over grievances that, in a year's time, will be forgotten by us and by everybody. No, let us devote our life to worthwhile actions and feelings, to great thoughts, real affections and enduring undertakings.”

“[...] marriage is one thing, and love is another...You need to have a solid canvas; nobody stops you to weave the arabesques...”