Quotes by Madame Stael

• The sense of this word among the Greeks affords the noblest definition of it; enthusiasm signifies God in us.
• Sow good services: sweet remembrances will grow from them.
• Wit lies in recognizing the resemblance among things which differ and the difference between things which are alike.
• The desire of the man is for the woman, but the desire of the woman is for the desire of the man.
• We cease loving ourselves if no one loves us.
• The human mind always makes progress, but it is a progress in spirals.
• The mystery of existence is the connection between our faults and our misfortunes.
• Speech happens to not be his language.
• The voice of conscience is so delicate that it is easy to stifle it; but it is also so clear that it is impossible to mistake it.
• To be totally understanding makes one very indulgent.
• To understand everything makes one very indulgent.
• Search for the truth is the noblest occupation of man; its publication is a duty.
• The more I see of men the more I like dogs.
• Innocence in genius, and candor in power, are both noble qualities.
• Scientific progress makes moral progress a necessity; for if man's power is increased, the checks that restrain him from abusing it must be strengthened.
• One must choose in life between boredom and suffering.
• The greatest happiness is to transform one's feelings into action.
• A man must know how to fly in the face of opinion; a woman to submit to it.
• A religious life is a struggle and not a hymn.
• In matters of the heart, nothing is true except the improbable.
• Love is a symbol of eternity. It wipes out all sense of time, destroying all memory of a beginning and all fear of an end.
• Love is the whole history of a woman's life, it is but an episode in a man's.
• Men err from selfishness; women because they are weak.
• Politeness is the art of choosing among your thoughts.
• Prayer is more than meditation. In meditation, the source of strength is one's self. When one prays, he goes to a source of strength greater than his own.
• Genius is essentially creative; it bears the stamp of the individual who possesses it.