Advising people what to read is often useless or harmful. But telling people what not to read is a different matter altogether, and I would happily propose that this subject be included in an optional course of university studies.
Modern women understand everything except their husbands.
Modern memoirs are usually written by people who have completely lost their memory and have done nothing worth remembering.
Litigation is a very vulgar thing. In a good society everyone has exactly the same opinion.
Old people trust everything, mature people doubt everything, and young people know everything.
Ancient historians give us delightful fiction in the form of facts, and modern novelists present dull facts in the form of fiction.
Judging by their appearance, most critics sell for a reasonable price.
There are two ways to love art. One of them is to simply not love her. Another would be to love her rationally.
The happiness of the married man depends on those with whom he is not married.
A solid government is the empty hope of those who do not understand how difficult the art of government is.
To those who are faithful in love, only its banal essence is accessible. The tragedy of love is known only to those who are not faithful.
Today's journalists are always privately apologizing to people for what they have said about them and everyone has heard.
At present, all married men live as bachelors, and bachelors as married men.
Nowadays, a good education is just an obstacle. It closes many doors in front of you.
The world takes seriously those who claim to be good. Those who pretend to be bad, no. Water is the boundless stupidity of optimists.
Only the auctioneer can in a balanced and impartial way admire all the schools of art.
Only the great masters of style manage to be illegible.
Only two types of people are really interesting: those who know everything about life and those who know nothing about it.
Only shallow people know themselves.
Only a really good woman can really do something crazy.
He who sees some difference between body and soul has neither.
He who wants to attract people to himself, is obliged to follow the crowd.
He who looks at a thing from both sides usually sees neither.
He who is preoccupied with the education of others, can have no time for his own education.
The tragedy of the poor is that only selflessness is within their reach. Beautiful sins, like beautiful things, are a privilege of the rich.
The tragedy of old age is not that a man grows old, but that his heart remains young.
The three letters you wrote me after we parted are so good, and there are so many misspellings in them that even now I can't hold back the tears when I reread them.
Work is the bane of the drunkard class.
It is difficult to avoid the future.
You have to choose your enemies very carefully.