Edmond About

“An optimist is a man who plants two acorns and buys a hammock.”

“Mankind is composed of two sorts of men - those who are afraid to do a thing, and those who are afraid not to do it.”

“It is only the first step that is difficult.”

“If you want to get rid of a guest, lend him money.”

“Tolerance is a virtue that makes peace possible; intolerance is a passion that makes it impossible.”

“The man who is anybody and who does anything is surely going to be criticized, vilified, and misunderstood.”

“Life is a chaplet of little miseries which the philosopher counts with a smile.”

“Marriage is a lottery in which men stake their liberty and women their happiness.”

“Progress is but the achievement of utopias.”

“The idea of a king is not in the heart of man; it is in a sheep's head.”