“Without reflecting that this is the only moment in which you can study character,” said the count; “on the steps of the scaffold death tears off the mask that has been worn through life, and the real visage is disclosed.”

No, I slept as I always do when I am bored and have not the courage to amuse myself, or when I am hungry and have not the desire to eat.

Love is the most selfish of all the passions.

Life is a storm, my young friend. You will bask in the sunlight one moment, be shattered on the rocks the next. What makes you a man is what you do when that storm comes.

It is almost as difficult to keep a first class person in a fourth class job, as it is to keep a fourth class person in a first class job.

Order is the key to all problems.

Be kind. Aim for my heart.

In politics, my dear fellow, you know, as well as I do, there are no men, but ideas – no feelings, but interests; in politics we do not kill a man, we only remove an obstacle, that is all.

He’s right: They have to put madmen with madmen.

Never fear quarrels, but seek hazardous adventures.

Hatred is blind; rage carries you away; and he who pours out vengeance runs the risk of tasting a bitter draught.

A person who doubts himself is like a man who would enlist in the ranks of his enemies and bear arms against himself.

What a fool I was, not to tear my heart out on the day when I resolved to revenge myself!

We must never expect discretion in first love: it is accompanied by such excessive joy that unless the joy is allowed to overflow, it will choke you.

I came to Paris with four écus in my pocket, and I’d have fought with anybody who told me I was in no condition to buy the Louvre.

Unfortunates, who ought to begin with God, do not have any hope in him till they have exhausted all other means of deliverance.

Mastery of language affords one remarkable opportunities.

Surely I could never be certain of how many stars I’ve counted in the sky or of how such tiny particles can be build into wild-eyed stories like Aquarius and Cassiopeia. I could read you as I would the constellations and never tire.

I’m not that big, physically. I’m just big where it counts – I got a big heart!

We are not to be so concerned about who approves or disapproves of us, but remember that God’s approval is what counts. Those whom God approves are approved indeed.

Learn to be difficult when it counts. In school as in life, having a reputation for being assertive will help you receive preferential treatment without having to beg or fight for it every time.

It’s how you live that really counts.

Life is the movie you see through your own eyes. It makes little difference what’s happening out there. It’s how you take it that counts.

It does not so much matter what happens. It is what one does when it happens that really counts.

What you do after you create your content is what truly counts.