Guy de Maupassant

“There is only one good thing in life, and that is love.”

“And how you misunderstand it! how you spoil it!”

“A heart that beats at your approach, an eye that weeps when you go away are things so rare, so sweet, so precious that they must never be despised.”

“Ah! my dear boy, a key, the key of a door which one can lock — this is happiness, mark you, the only happiness!”

“A man forced to spend his life without ever having the right, without ever finding the time, to shut himself up all alone, no matter where, to think, to reflect, to work, to dream?”

“Great minds that are healthy are never considered geniuses, while this sublime qualification is lavished on brains that are often inferior but are slightly touched by madness.”

“Let them respect my convictions, and I will respect theirs!”

“As the mediocrities and the fools always form the immense majority, it is impossible for them to elect an intelligent government.”

“You have the army of mediocrities followed by the multitude of fools.”

“You treat it as something solemn like a sacrament, or something to be bought, like a dress.”