Germaine de Staël Quotes

Tout comprendre rend très-indulgent.

You [America] are the vanguard of the human race. You are the world’s future.

La voix de la conscience est si délicate, qu'il est facile d'étouffer; mais elle est si pure, qu'il est impossible de la méconnaître.

When men do wrong, it is out of hardness; when women do wrong, it is out of weakness.

La vue d'un tel monument est comme une musique continuelle et fixée, qui vous attend pour vous faire du bien quand vous vous en approchez.

When once enthusiasm has been turned into ridicule, everything is undone except money and power.

Tout ce qui est naturel est varié.

There is perhaps too much freedom in Protestantism to satisfy a certain religious austerity, which may seize upon the man who is overwhelmed by great misfortunes; sometimes even in the habitual course of life, the reality of this world disappears all at once, and we feel ourselves in the middle of its interests as we should at a ball, where we did not hear the music; the dancing that we saw there would appear insane.

The sight of such a monument is like continual and stationary music, which one hears for one's good as one approaches it.

The desire of the man is for the woman, but the desire of the woman is for the desire of the man.

Ces règles ne sont que des barrières pour empêcher les enfants de tomber.

Love is the whole history of a woman's life; it is an episode in a man's.

Let us then blend everything: love, religion, genius, with sunshine, perfume, music, and poetry.

L'esprit consiste à connaître la ressemblance des choses diverses et la différence des choses semblables.

Danger is like wine, it goes to your head.