Stendhal Quotes

Scopul ei era să nu facă nicio mărturisire compromiţătoare, dar logica pasiunii este cu totul alta: interesul nestăvilit de a afla adevărul nu îţi îngăduie, cu niciun chip, să-ţi măsori vorbele şi, în acelaşi timp, devotamentul fără de margini faţă de fiinţa iubită te face să uiţi teama că ai putea s-o ofensezi.

When one has just seen the woman one loves, the sight of every other woman damages the vision and physically hurts the eyes;

L’idée la plus utile aux tyrans est celle de Dieu,

Punish me for my atrocious pride,” she said to him, squeezing him in her arms as though to strangle him; “you are my master, I am your slave, I must beg pardon upon my knees for having sought to rebel.” She slipped from his embrace to fall at his feet. “Yes, you are my master,” she said again, intoxicated with love and joy; “reign over me for ever, punish your slave severely when she seeks to rebel.

Les plaisirs et les soins de l'ambition la plus heureuse, même du pouvoir sans bornes, ne sont rien auprès du bonheur intime que donnent les relations de tendresse et d'amour. Je suis homme avant d'être prince, et, quand j'ai le bonheur d'aimer, ma maîtresse s'adresse à l'homme et non au prince.

Es la violenta impresion de lo feo sobre u n alma destinada a amar lo bello.

One can acquire everything in solitude except character.

Signs cannot be represented, in a spy’s report, so damningly as words.

la finesse du paysan l'emporta sur la finesse de l'homme riche, qui n'en a pas besoin pour vivre
(partie 1, ch. 5)

Everything is noble and delicate (on Lake Como), everything speaks of love, nothing recalls the ugliness of civilization. The villages located halfway up the coast are hidden by trees, and above the tops of the trees rises the graceful architecture of their slender bell towers. If some small field, fifty paces wide, occasionally interrupts the "bouquets" of chestnut and wild cherry trees, the satisfied eye sees plants growing happier and more vigorous than elsewhere. Beyond these hills, whose peaks offer hermitages that we would all like to inhabit, the amazed eye discovers the peaks of the Alps, always covered with snow, and their sublime austerity reminds him of the misfortunes of life, and this increases the voluptuousness. of the present hour. The imagination is moved by the distant sound of the bell of some tiny village hidden under the trees; and the sounds carried on the waters, which soften them, take on a color of sweet melancholy and resignation, and seem to say to man: Life is fleeing, so do not show yourself so reluctant towards the happiness that presents itself, hurry to enjoy. The language of these enchanting places, which have no equal in the world, restored her sixteen-year-old heart to the Countess.

Wit lasts no more than two centuries.

Quitte-t-on sa maîtresse, on risque, hélas! d'être trompé deux ou trois fois par jour.

Our true passions are selfish.

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?

I love her beauty, but I fear her mind.