Stendhal Quotes

L'amour est comme une fièvre qui va et vient tout à fait indépendamment de la volonté. ... Il n'y a pas de limite d'âge pour l'amour. ... L'amour ne voit pas avec les yeux, mais avec l'esprit.

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.

In a word, the very quality which made Julien into a superior being was precisely that which prevented him from savoring the happiness which was placed within his grasp.

Your water does not refresh me, said the thirsty genie. Yet it is the coolest well in all the Diar Bekir.

It seems that my destiny is to die dreaming.

Quel che chiamo cristallizzazione, è l'operazione dello spirito che trae da tutto ciò che si presenta la scoperta di nuove perfezioni nell'oggetto amato.

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.

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)

It should be explained that the cure of Verrieres, an old man of eighty, but blessed by the keen air of his mountains with an iron character and strength, had the right to visit at any hour of the day the prison, the hospital, and even the poorhouse. It was at six o'clock in the morning precisely that M. Appert, who was armed with an introduction to the cure from Paris, had had the good sense to arrive in an inquisitive little town. He had gone at once to the presbytery.

Ένας λαός έχει το δικαίωμα ν' αλλάξει τον λογικό και οικείο τρόπο με τον οποίο ένας άλλος λαός, ρυθμίζει την υλική και ηθική ύπαρξή του;

¡La importancia! ¿Es nada, por ventura? La importancia es el respeto de los necios, el pasmo de los niños, la envidia de los ricos y el desprecio del sabio.

Without patience, without absence of anger, no one can be called a politician.

On the other hand in America, in the Republic, one has to spend the whole weary day paying serious court to the shopkeepers in the street, and must become as stupid as they are; and there, one has no Opera.

it is the violence of your passions that alarms me

Mutluluğu uzaklarda aramaya kalkmanın ne anlamı var, işte burada, elimin altında!