Sidonie Gabrielle Colette

“In the matter of furnishing, I find a certain absence of ugliness far worse than ugliness.”

“The true traveler is he who goes on foot, and even then, he sits down a lot of the time.”

“It is not a bad thing that children should occasionally, and politely, put parents in their place.”

“On this narrow planet, we have only the choice between two unknown worlds. One of them tempts us - ah! what a dream, to live in that! - the other stifles us at the first breath.”

“Jealousy is not at all low, but it catches us humbled and bowed down, at first sight.”

“There is no need to waste pity on young girls who are having their moments of disillusionment, for in another moment they will recover their illusion.”

“Never touch a butterfly's wing with your finger.”

“It is wise to apply the oil of refined politeness to the mechanism of friendship.”

“No temptation can ever be measured by the value of its object.”

“I believe there are more urgent and honorable occupations than the incomparable waste of time we call suffering.”

“I am going away with him to an unknown country where I shall have no past and no name, and where I shall be born again with a new face and an untried heart.”

“The woman who thinks she is intelligent demands equal rights with men. A woman who is intelligent does not.”

“Smokers, male and female, inject and excuse idleness in their lives every time they light a cigarette.”

“To a poet, silence is an acceptable response, even a flattering one.”

“January, month of empty pockets! let us endure this evil month, anxious as a theatrical producer's forehead.”

“There are days when solitude is a heady wine that intoxicates you with freedom, others when it is a bitter tonic, and still others when it is a poison that makes you beat your head against the wall.”

“In its early stages, insomnia is almost an oasis in which those who have to think or suffer darkly take refuge.”

“You will do foolish things, but do them with enthusiasm.”

“Our perfect companions never have fewer than four feet.”

“Be happy. It's one way of being wise.”