Stendhal

"Politics in a literary work, is like a gun shot in the middle of a concert, something vulgar, and however, something which is impossible to ignore."

"The man of genius is he and he alone who finds such joy in his art that he will work at it come hell or high water."

"To be loved at first sight, a man should have at the same time something to respect and something to pity in his face."

"True love makes the thought of death frequent, easy, without terrors; it merely becomes the standard of comparison, the price one would pay for many things."