“The happiest of all lives is a busy solitude.”

We are rarely proud when we are alone.

I have never made but one prayer to God, a very short one: Oh Lord, make my enemies ridiculous. And God granted it.

The discovery of what is true and the practice of that which is good are the two most important aims of philosophy.

It is an infantile superstition of the human spirit that virginity would be thought a virtue and not the barrier that separates ignorance from knowledge.

Sometimes we are less unhappy in being deceived by those we love, than in being undeceived by them.

Men use thought only as authority for their injustice, and employ speech only to conceal their thoughts.

Religion began when the first scoundrel met the first fool.

Life is thickly sown with thorns, and I know no other remedy than to pass quickly through them. The longer we dwell on our misfortunes, the greater is their power to harm us.

Let us read, and let us dance; these two amusements will never do any harm to the world.

In every province, the chief occupations, in order of importance, are lovemaking, malicious gossip, and talking nonsense.

Liberty of thought is the life of the soul.

Fools have a habit of believing that everything written by a famous author is admirable. For my part I read only to please myself and like only what suits my taste.

God is a comedian playing to an audience that is too afraid to laugh.

The most important decision you make is to be in a good mood.

It is better to risk saving a guilty person than to condemn an innocent one.

Ice-cream is exquisite. What a pity it isn’t illegal.

I’m so happy now. I love that I’m in a relationship right now… I want a life… The past five years or so I’ve found my groove and my balance.

I don’t see how you can respect yourself if you must look in the hearts and minds of others for your happiness.

As women, we have more of a tendency to be people-pleasers, and I know a lot of women who are not vocal about what makes them happy.

Really, what I try to instill in my fans is to be healthy and happy. I have no desire to be super-skinny.

This earthly life is a battle,’ said Ma. ‘If it isn’t one thing to contend with, it’s another. It always has been so, and it always will be. The sooner you make up your mind to that, the better off you are, and more thankful for your pleasures.

I want to be safe in the knowledge that I can tour and play festivals for a long time. The main thing is that I want a good reputation as a live performer. If I have that, I’d be so happy.

The rule of my life is to make business a pleasure, and pleasure my business.

You can be the happiest you can be in a relationship but can have an urge to be with someone else. I know a lot of people that it has happened to.