Madame de Stael Quotes - Page 3

nothing is so horrifying as the possibility of existing simply because we do not know how to die.

To be totally understanding makes one very indulgent.

Providence protects us in all the details of our lot.

Kindness and generosity ... form the true morality of human actions.

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.

Prayer is the life of the soul.

Madame de Stael thought it was pride in mankind to endeavour to penetrate the secret of the universe; and speaking of the higher metaphysics she said: "I prefer the Lord's Prayer to it all."

Be happy, but be happy through piety.

The mystery of existence is the connection between our faults and our misfortunes.

The language of religion can alone suit every situation and every mode of feeling.

Love which is only an episode in the life of men, is the entire history of the life of women.

The greater part of what women write about women is mere sycophancy to man.

I believe that happiness consists in having a destiny in keeping with our abilities. Our desires are things of the moment, often harmful even to ourselves; but our abilities are permanent, and their demands never cease.

[On Russia:] In every way, there is something gigantic about this people: ordinary dimensions have no applications whatever to it. I do not mean by this that true greatness and stability are never met with; but their boldness, their imaginativeness knows no bounds. With them everything is colossal rather than well-proportioned, audacious rather than well-considered, and if they do not attain their goals, it is because they exceed them.

Unhappy love freezes all our affections: our own souls grow inexplicable to us. More than we gained while we were happy we lose by the reverse.

Morality must guide calculation, and calculation must guide politics.

Men err from selfishness; women because they are weak.

Men have made of fortune an all-powerful goddess, in order that she may be made responsible for all their blunder's.

Every time a new nation, America or Russia for instance, advances toward civilization, the human race perfects itself; every time an inferior class emerges from enslavement and degradation, the human race again perfects itself.

I learn life from the poets.

Between God and love, I recognize no mediator but my conscience.

Purity of mind and conduct is the first glory of a woman.

How true it is that, sooner or later, the' most rebellious must bow beneath the yoke of misfortune!

[On Italian:] One may almost call it a language that talks of itself, and always seems more witty than its speakers.

Atheism exists only in coldness, selfishness, and baseness.