Marquise Quotes & Sayings

Swann had, as he shook the Marquise's hand, seen her bosom from close to and from above, he plunged an attentive, serious, absorbed, almost anxious, gaze into the depths of her corsage, and his nostrils, intoxicated by the woman's perfume, quivered like a butterfly ready to go and settle on the half-glimpsed flower. — Marcel Proust

There are many people who are so inclined to say "no" that the "no" always precedes whatever we say to them. This negative quality makes them so disagreeable that, even if they do what we want them to or agree with what we say, they always lose the pleasure that they might have received had they not started off so badly. — Madeleine De Souvre, Marquise De ...

When one woman strikes at the heart of another, she seldom misses, and the wound is invariably fatal. — Pierre-Ambroise Choderlos De Laclos

There is as much wisdom in soliciting good counsel as in giving it. The most sensible people are not reluctant to consider the feelings of other people; and to know how to submit to the wise guidance of others is a kind of wisdom in itself. — Madeleine De Souvre, Marquise De ...

Rules of society are nothing; one's conscience is the umpire. — Marie Anne De Vichy-Chamrond, Marquise Du Deffand

As for me, said the little marquise, I am too used to being a girl, and I want to remain one all my life. How could I bring myself to wear a man's hat?

And I, said the marquis, have used a sword more than once without disgracing myself. I'll tell you about my adventures some day. Let's continue as we are, then. Beautiful marquise, enjoy all the pleasures of your sex, and I shall enjoy all the pleasures of mine. — Francois-Timoleon De Choisy

I am persuaded that the greater part of our complaints arise from want of exercise. — Marie De Rabutin-Chantal, Marquise De Sevigne

It is better that great peoples should seek out glory, or even vanity, in their deeds, than that they should remain indifferent . For even if they are not incited to act upon virtuous principles, at least there is the saving grace that they will do things they might not have done had not vanity prompted their actions. — Madeleine De Souvre, Marquise De ...

Sin is not so sinful as hypocrisy. — Francoise D'Aubigne, Marquise De Maintenon

There is nobody who is not dangerous for someone. — Marie De Rabutin-Chantal, Marquise De Sevigne

There is no one who cannot derive great help and great benefit from learning; but there are also only a few people who do not receive a great harm from the light and knowledge they have received by learning, unless they use their knowledge in a manner both fit and natural for them. — Madeleine De Souvre, Marquise De ...

Everything seems insupportable to me. This may very well be because I am insupportable myself. — Marie Anne De Vichy-Chamrond, Marquise Du Deffand

True friendship is never serene. — Marie De Rabutin-Chantal, Marquise De Sevigne

Study and research into truth often only serves to make us see by experience our natural ignorance. — Madeleine De Souvre, Marquise De ...

I love you so passionately, that I hide a great part of my love, so as not to oppress you with it. — Marie De Rabutin-Chantal, Marquise De Sevigne

It is day by day that we go forward; today we are as we were yesterday and tomorrow we shall be like ourselves today. So we go on without being aware of it, and this is one of the miracles of Providence that I so love. — Marie De Rabutin-Chantal, Marquise De Sevigne

There is no one who does not represent a danger to someone. — Marie De Rabutin-Chantal, Marquise De Sevigne

Do I believe in ghosts? No, but I'm afraid of them. — Marie Anne De Vichy-Chamrond, Marquise Du Deffand

The days, and the months, and the years, pass so swiftly, that I can no longer retain them. Time, in its flight, hurries me away, in spite of myself; in vain I endeavor to stop him, he drags me along: the thought of this alarms me. — Marie De Rabutin-Chantal, Marquise De Sevigne

There are some people who never acknowledge themselves in the wrong; God help them! — Marie De Rabutin-Chantal, Marquise De Sevigne

War often breaks out when there is the most talk of peace. — Marie De Rabutin-Chantal, Marquise De Sevigne

Probably the only type of cosmetic surgery I'd consider is having my bust reduced. It's alright for my current role in 'The Marquise' because it's a costume drama, which means boned corsets and a bit of cleavage, but it's a drag otherwise. — Kate O'Mara

It is base to take advantage of our rank or greatness by making fun of those placed beneath us in life. — Madeleine De Souvre, Marquise De ...

It is sometimes useful to pretend we are deceived, because when we show a deceiving man that we see through his artifices, we only encourage him to increase his deceptions. — Madeleine De Souvre, Marquise De ...

I hear nothings, I speak nothings, I take interest in nothing and from nothing to nothing I travel gently down the dull way which leads to becoming nothing. — Marie Anne De Vichy-Chamrond, Marquise Du Deffand

Good fortune almost always makes some change in a man's behavior - in his manner of speaking and acting. It is a great weakness to want to bedeck oneself in qualities which are not his own. If he esteemed virtue above all other things, neither the favors of fortune nor the advantages of position would change a man's face or heart. — Madeleine De Souvre, Marquise De ...

Delicacy is to love what grace is to beauty. — Francoise D'Aubigne, Marquise De Maintenon

The loftiness of understanding embraces all. It requires as much spirit to suffer the failings of others as it does to appreciate their good qualities. — Madeleine De Souvre, Marquise De ...

There is no more reason to accuse ourselves excessively of our failings than to excuse them overmuch. He who goes overboard in self-criticism often does so in order not to suffer others' criticisms, or else does so out of a kind of vanity that wishes to make others believe that he knows how to confess his faults. — Madeleine De Souvre, Marquise De ...

It is with many enterprises as with striking fire; we do not meet with success except by reiterated efforts, and often at the instant when we despaired of success. — Francoise D'Aubigne, Marquise De Maintenon

It is sometimes best to slip over thoughts and not go to the bottom of them. — Marie De Rabutin-Chantal, Marquise De Sevigne

When I step into this library, I cannot understand why I ever step out of it. — Marie De Rabutin-Chantal, Marquise De Sevigne

This life is a perpetual chequer-work of good and evil, pleasure and pain. When in possession of what we desire, we are only so much the nearer losing it; and when at a distance from it, we live in expectation of enjoying it again. — Marie De Rabutin-Chantal, Marquise De Sevigne

There are people so blind and self-absorbed in all matters that they always believe that, whatever they desire or think, they can impose their will on other people. Whatever bad reason they use to persuade others, these self-centered people are so caught up in the process that it seems to them all they have to do is to speak their wishes in a lofty and commanding tone of voice in order to convince everybody. — Madeleine De Souvre, Marquise De ...

It is such a great fault to talk too much that, in business and conversation, if what is good is also brief, it is doubly good, and one gains by brevity what one often loses by an excess of words. — Madeleine De Souvre, Marquise De ...

Virtue is not always where it seems to be. People sometimes acknowledge favors only to maintain their reputations, and to make themselves more impudently ungrateful for favors that they do not wish to acknowledge. — Madeleine De Souvre, Marquise De ...

Who would venture upon the journey of life, if compelled to begin it at the end? — Francoise D'Aubigne, Marquise De Maintenon

Good and evil travel on the same road, but they leave different impressions. — Marie De Rabutin-Chantal, Marquise De Sevigne

If you are not feeling well, if you have not slept, chocolate will revive you. But you have no chocolate! I think of that again and again! My dear, how will you ever manage? — Marie De Rabutin-Chantal, Marquise De Sevigne

I love nothing and that is the true cause of my ennui. — Marie Anne De Vichy-Chamrond, Marquise Du Deffand

Gloom and sadness are poison to us, and the origin of hysterics. You are right in thinking that this disease is in the imagination; you have defined it perfectly; it is vexation which causes it to spring up, and fear that supports it. — Marie De Rabutin-Chantal, Marquise De Sevigne

It is thus that we walk through the world like the blind, not knowing whither we are going, regarding as bad what is good, regarding as good what is bad, and ever in entire ignorance. — Marie De Rabutin-Chantal, Marquise De Sevigne

I dislike clocks with second-hands; they cut up life into too small pieces. — Marie De Rabutin-Chantal, Marquise De Sevigne

When we reckon without Providence, we must frequently reckon twice. — Marie De Rabutin-Chantal, Marquise De Sevigne

[After being corrected by a grammarian for using the feminine pronoun instead of the pseudogeneric masculine:] As you please, but for my part, if I were to express myself so, I should fancy I had a beard. — Marie De Rabutin-Chantal, Marquise De Sevigne

Instead of taking care to acquaint ourselves with others, we only think of making ourselves known to them. It would be better to listen to other people in order to become enlightened rather than to speak so as to shine in front of them. — Madeleine De Souvre, Marquise De ...

Everyone is so caught up in his own passions and interests that he always wants to talk about them without getting involved in the passions and interests of those to whom he speaks, although his listeners have the same need for others to listen to and help them. — Madeleine De Souvre, Marquise De ...

Long life will sometimes obscure the star of fame. — Marie De Rabutin-Chantal, Marquise De Sevigne

True merit does not depend on the times or on fashion. Those who have no other advantage than courtly manners lose it when they are away from court. But good sense, knowledge, and wisdom make their possessors knowledgeable and beloved in all ages and in all times. — Madeleine De Souvre, Marquise De ...

Ignorance makes for weakness and fear; knowledge gives strength and confidence. Nothing surprises an intellect that knows all things with a sense of discrimination. — Madeleine De Souvre, Marquise De ...

Why do we discover faults so much more readily than perfection. — Marie De Rabutin-Chantal, Marquise De Sevigne

We must accustom ourselves to the follies of others and not be astonished at the foolishness that takes place in our presence. — Madeleine De Souvre, Marquise De ...

Even the best-natured people, if uninstructed, are always blind and uncertain. We must take pains to instruct ourselves so that ignorance makes us neither too timid nor too bold. — Madeleine De Souvre, Marquise De ...

Heed the still small voice that so seldom leads us wrong, and never into folly. — Marie Anne De Vichy-Chamrond, Marquise Du Deffand

Friendships take work. Use disagreements as opportunity to come out better on the other side — Marie De Rabutin-Chantal, Marquise De Sevigne

I pity those who have no taste for reading ... — Marie De Rabutin-Chantal, Marquise De Sevigne

Mean-spirited mediocrities, especially those with a smattering of learning, are the most likely to be opinionated. Only strong minds know how to correct their opinions and abandon a bad position. — Madeleine De Souvre, Marquise De ...

Marquise de Merteuil: I've distilled every thing to one single principle: win or die. — Pierre-Ambroise Choderlos De Laclos

Woman softens her own troubles by generously solacing those of others. — Francoise D'Aubigne, Marquise De Maintenon

There is a certain hidden mediocrity in those who are stationed above us in life, an ability to take liberties in their pursuit of pleasures and diversions, without injuring the honor and respect we owe to them. — Madeleine De Souvre, Marquise De ...

When High and Mighty people want to make us believe that they possess some good quality which they in fact do not have, it is dangerous to show that you doubt them; because, by removing their hope of deceiving the world, you also remove their desire to perform the good acts that might have arisen from their very pretensions. — Madeleine De Souvre, Marquise De ...

We are so fond of hearing ourselves spoken of, that, be it good or ill, it is still pleasing. — Marie De Rabutin-Chantal, Marquise De Sevigne

There is little advantage in pleasing ourselves when we please no one else, for our great self-love is often chastised by the scorn of others. — Madeleine De Souvre, Marquise De ...

Let us strive to improve ourselves, for we cannot remain stationary; one either progresses or retrogrades. — Marie Anne De Vichy-Chamrond, Marquise Du Deffand

There is a certain manner of self-absorption in speaking that always renders the speaker disagreeable. For it is as great a folly to listen only to ourselves while we are carrying on a conversation with others as it is to talk to ourselves while we are alone. — Madeleine De Souvre, Marquise De ...

To be too dissatisfied with ourselves is a weakness. To be too satisfied with ourselves is a stupidity. — Madeleine De Souvre, Marquise De ...

Providence conducts us with so much kindness through the different periods of our life, that we scarcely feel the change; our days glide gently and imperceptibly along, like the motion of the hour-hand, which we cannot discover ... we advance gradually; we are the same to-day as yesterday, and to-morrow as to-day: thus we go on, without perceiving it, which is a miracle of the Providence I adore. — Marie De Rabutin-Chantal, Marquise De Sevigne

It is the fine rain that soaks us through. — Marie De Rabutin-Chantal, Marquise De Sevigne

He who uses trickery should at least make use of his judgment to learn that he can scarcely hide treacherous conduct for very long among clever men who are determined to find him out, although they may pretend to be deceived in order to disguise their knowledge of his deceitfulness. — Madeleine De Souvre, Marquise De ...

Pettiness of mind, ignorance and presumption are the cause of stubbornness, because stubborn people only want to believe what they themselves can imagine, and they can imagine very few things. — Madeleine De Souvre, Marquise De ...

One cannot always bestow all manner of things upon everybody. To refuse a request for just cause is as praiseworthy as to grant a request that is worthy. It is for this reason that the "no" of some people pleases more than the "yes" of others. A refusal accompanied by sweet words and a civil manner gives more satisfaction to a true heart than a favor given with bad grace. — Madeleine De Souvre, Marquise De ...

Self-love makes us deceive ourselves in almost all matters, to censure others, and to blame them for the same faults that we do not correct in ourselves; we do this either because we are unaware of the evil that exists within us, or because we always see our own evil disguised as a good. — Madeleine De Souvre, Marquise De ...

Ah, what a grudge I owe physicians! what mummery is their art! — Marie De Rabutin-Chantal, Marquise De Sevigne

When people reproach us, they only increase their own failings even as they are disclaiming them. — Madeleine De Souvre, Marquise De ...

Fortune is always on the side of the largest battalions. — Marie De Rabutin-Chantal, Marquise De Sevigne

In M
, an important town in northern Italy, the widowed Marquise of O
, a lady of unblemished reputation and the mother of several well-brought-up children, inserted the following announcement in the newspapers: that she had, without knowledge of the cause, come to find herself in a certain situation; that she would like the father of the child she was expecting to disclose his identity to her; that she was resolved, out of consideration to her family, to marry him. — Heinrich Von Kleist

We are never satisfied with having done well; and in endeavoring to do better, we do much worse. — Marie De Rabutin-Chantal, Marquise De Sevigne

We are more put off by people who parade their dignity than by people who show off their wardrobes. When people have to trick themselves out to gain attention, it is a sure sign that they are unworthy of it. If we want to make ourselves worthy, we can do so only by the innate eminence conferred by virtue. We hold great people in esteem more for the qualities of their soul than for the qualities of their fortune. — Madeleine De Souvre, Marquise De ...

We like so much to talk of ourselves that we are never weary of those private interviews with a lover during the course of whole years, and for the same reason the devout like to spend much time with their confessor; it is the pleasure of talking of themselves, even though it be to talk ill. — Marie De Rabutin-Chantal, Marquise De Sevigne

We think highly of men when we do not know the extent of their capabilities, for we always suppose that more exists when we only see half. — Madeleine De Souvre, Marquise De ...

Philosophy may raise us above grandeur, but nothing can elevate us above the ennui which accompanies it. — Francoise D'Aubigne, Marquise De Maintenon

When an opinionated person starts to challenge something, his mind shuts out all that could clear up the matter. The argument irritates him, however just it might be, and it seems that he is afraid of discovering the truth. — Madeleine De Souvre, Marquise De ...

In all nations truth is the most sublime, the most simple, the most difficult, and yet the most natural thing. — Marie De Rabutin-Chantal, Marquise De Sevigne

Death makes us all equal ... — Marie De Rabutin-Chantal, Marquise De Sevigne

Nothing can tell us so much about the general lawlessness of humanity as a perfect acquaintance with our own immoderate behavior. If we would think over our own impulses, we would recognize in our own souls the guiding principle of all vices which we reproach in other people; and if it is not in our very actions, it will be present at least in our impulses. There is no malice that self-love will not offer to our spirits so that we may exploit any occasion, and there are few people virtuous enough not to be tempted. — Madeleine De Souvre, Marquise De ...

It is not always sorrow that opens the fountains of the eyes ... — Marie De Rabutin-Chantal, Marquise De Sevigne

Nothing is so capable of overturning a good intention as to show a distrust of it; to be suspected for an enemy, is often sufficient to make a person become one ... — Marie De Rabutin-Chantal, Marquise De Sevigne

The conversation of those who like to lord it over us is very disagreeable. But we should always be ready to graciously acknowledge the truth, no matter in what guise it comes to us. — Madeleine De Souvre, Marquise De ...

There is always enough self-love hidden beneath the greatest devoutness to set limits on charity. — Madeleine De Souvre, Marquise De ...

We so love all new and unusual things that we even derive a secret pleasure from the saddest and most tragic events, both because of their novelty and because of the natural malignity that exists within us. — Madeleine De Souvre, Marquise De ...

Long journeys are strange things: if we were always to continue in the same mind we are in at the end of a journey, we should never stir from the place we were then in: but Providence in kindness to us causes us to forget it. It is much the same with lying-in women. Heaven permits this forgetfulness that the world may be peopled, and that folks may take journeys to Provence. — Marie De Rabutin-Chantal, Marquise De Sevigne

Nothing is more certain of destroying any good feeling that may be cherished towards us than to show distrust. To be suspected as an enemy is often enough to make a man become so; the whole matter is over, there is no farther use of guarding against it. On the contrary, confidence leads us naturally to act kindly, we are affected by the good opinion which others entertain of us, and we are not easily induced to lose it. — Marie De Rabutin-Chantal, Marquise De Sevigne

Three-fourths of all marriages are unhappy. — Francoise D'Aubigne, Marquise De Maintenon

Ah! I shall repeat it endlessly, the only misfortune is to be born! — Marie Anne De Vichy-Chamrond, Marquise Du Deffand

The maxims of Christian life, which should draw upon the truths of the Gospel, are always partially symbolic of the mind and temperament of those who teach them to us. The former, by their natural sweetness, show us the quality of God's mercy; the latter, by their harshness, show us God's justice. — Madeleine De Souvre, Marquise De ...

Self-love is even deceived by self-love, because by looking out for our own interests and disregarding those of other people, we lose the advantage that comes with the exchange of favors. — Madeleine De Souvre, Marquise De ...

Oh Dear! How unfortunate I am not to have anyone to weep with! — Marie De Rabutin-Chantal, Marquise De Sevigne

It is a disgraceful thing to be ignorant ... — Marie De Rabutin-Chantal, Marquise De Sevigne

There is no real evil in life, except great pain; all the rest is imaginary, and depends on the light in which we view things — Marie De Rabutin-Chantal, Marquise De Sevigne

Matrimony is a very dangerous disorder; I had rather drink. — Marie De Rabutin-Chantal, Marquise De Sevigne