“It was there, in particular, that I confirmed the truth that love, which we cry up as the source of our pleasures, is nothing more than an excuse for them.”

“I see you are already as timid as a slave: you might as well be in love.”

“If, for example, I had just as much love as you had virtue (and that is surely saying a lot) it is not astonishing that one should end at the same time as the other. It is not my fault.”

“Don't you remember that love, like medicine, is only the art of encouraging nature?”

“You may conquer her love of God: you will never overcome her fear of the devil.”

“It has become necessary for me to have this woman, so as to save myself from the ridicule of being in love with her: for to what lengths will a man not be driven by thwarted desire?”

“I willingly allow that money does not guarantee happiness; but it must also be allowed that it makes happiness a great deal easier to achieve.”