“Feminine delicacy was carried to excess in Mme de Renal.”

“Has he written to you?''He writes frequently.''Shew me his letters this instant, I order you'; and M. de Renal added six feet to his stature.”

“In Paris, Julien’s position with regard to Madame de Renal would very soon have been simplified; but in Paris love is the child of the novels. The young tutor and his timid mistress would have found in three or four novels, and even in the lyrics of the Gymnase, a clear statement of their situation. The novels would have outlined for them the part to be played, shown them the model to copy; and this model, sooner or later, albeit without the slightest pleasure, and perhaps with reluctance, vanity would have compelled Julien to follow.In a small town of the Aveyron or the Pyrenees, the slightest incident would have been made decisive by the ardour of the climate. Beneath our more sombre skies, a penniless young man, who is ambitious only because the refinement of his nature puts him in need of some of those pleasures which money provides, is in daily contact with a woman of thirty who is sincerely virtuous, occupied with her children, and never looks to novels for examples of conduct. Everything goes slowly, everything happens by degrees in the provinces: life is more natural.”

“La seule excuse de Dieu c'est de ne pas exister.”

“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.”

“Mathilde ura din tot sufletul lipsa de caracter; acesta era singurul cusur de care îi învinuia pe frumoşii tineridin preajma.”

“La tyrannie de l'opinion, et quelle opinion! est aussi bête dans les petites villes de France, qu'aux États-Unis d'Amérique.”