People who go about looking for trouble usually find it.
People say I make strange choices, but they’re not strange for me. My sickness is that I’m fascinated by human behavior, by what’s underneath the surface, by the worlds inside people.
People don’t do things without a reason.
Nothing is so contagious as an example, we never commit good or bad acts without their propagating themselves.[Rien n’est si contagieux que l’exemple, et nous ne faisons jamais de grands biens ni de grands maux qui n’en produisent de semblables.]
My rule of conduct is for every man to stand on his own legs, and for every woman too.
Lucky men seldom mend their ways; they always feel in the right so long as luck favors their ill behavior.[Les gens heureux ne se corrigent guère; ils croient toujours avoir raison quand la fortune soutient leur mauvaise conduite.]
Just as people behave to me, so do I behave to them. When I see that a person despises me and treats me with contempt, I can be as proud as any peacock.
It’s not what happens to us, but our response to what happens to us that hurts us.
I am only resolved to act in that manner, which will, in my own opinion, constitute my happiness, without reference to you, or to any person so wholly unconnected with me.
Human nature is always interesting. And it’s curious to see how certain types always tend to act in exactly the same way.
A man’s ethical behavior should be based effectually on sympathy, education, and social ties and needs; no religious basis is necessary. Man would indeed be in a poor way if he had to be restrained by fear of punishment and hope of reward after death.
A man when he is making up to anybody can be cordial and gallant and full of little attention and altogether charming. But when a man is really in love he can’t help looking like a sheep.
