Anne Sophie Swetchine

“We are rich only through what we give, and poor only through what we refuse.”

“Nothing is more sad than the death of an illusion.”

“We often live under the same roof, but in different climates.”

“Life has its share of thorns, and I know no other remedy than to pass quickly through them. The longer we dwell on our misfortunes, the greater is their power to harm us.”

“Most of our faults are more pardonable than the means we use to conceal them.”

“To have what we want is riches, but to be able to do without is power.”

“Those who have suffered much are like those who know many languages; they have learned to understand and be understood by all.”

“We must not only give what we have; we must also give what we are.”

“Sorrow is a kind of rust of the soul, which every new idea contributes in its passage to scour away.”

“It is with nations as with individuals, those who know the least of others think the most of themselves.”

“What a father says to his children is not heard by the world, but it will be heard by posterity.”

“We deceive ourselves when we fancy that only weakness needs support. Strength needs it far more.”

“A word of kindness is seldom spoken in vain. It is a seed which, even when dropped by chance, springs up a flower.”

“He who has never denied himself for the sake of giving, has but glanced at the joys of charity.”

“Love is the abridgment of all theology.”

“In the moral world there is nothing impossible if we can bring a thorough will to it.”

“Simplicity is a jewel rarely found.”

“We are nearer to the great than we think.”

“We are never so ridiculous by the qualities we have as by those we affect to have.”

“To be witty is not enough. One must possess sufficient wit to avoid having too much of it.”