MARGUERITE GARDINER

Arles is certainly one of the most interesting towns I have ever seen, whether viewed as a place remarkable for the objects of antiquity it contains, or for the primitive manners of its inhabitants and its picturesque appearance.

Prejudices are the chains forged by ignorance to keep men apart.

Talent, like beauty, to be pardoned, must be obscure and unostentatious.

Who could look on these monuments without reflecting on the vanity of mortals in thus offering up testimonials of their respect for persons of whose very names posterity is ignorant?

Superstition is only the fear of belief, while religion is the confidence.

We never respect those who amuse us, however we may smile at their comic powers.

The Temple of Diana is in the vicinity of the fountain, which has given rise to the conjecture that it originally constituted a portion of the ancient baths.

When we bring back with us the objects most dear, and find those we left unchanged, we are tempted to doubt the lapse of time; but one link in the chain of affection broken, and every thing seems altered.

Tears may be dried up, but the heart - never.

In France, a woman may forget that she is neither young nor handsome; for the absence of these claims to attention does not expose her to be neglected by the male sex.

Here Fashion is a despot, and no one dreams of evading its dictates.

Happiness consists not in having much, but in being content with little.

The chief prerequisite for a escort is to have a flexible conscience and an inflexible politeness.

I see little alteration at Lyons since I formerly passed through it. Its manufactories are, nevertheless, flourishing, though less improvement than could be expected is visible in the external aspect of the place.

Yes, the meeting of dear friends atones for the regret of separation; and like it so much enhances affection, that after absence one wonders how one has been able to stay away from them so long.

Sure there's different roads from this to Dungarvan -- some thinks one road pleasanter, and some think another; wouldn't it be mighty foolish to quarrel for this? -- and sure isn't it twice worse to try to interfere with people for choosing the road they like best to heaven?

People seem to lose all respect for the past; events succeed each other with such velocity that the most remarkable one of a few years gone by, is no more remembered than if centuries had closed over it.

Modern historians are all would-be philosophers; who, instead of relating facts as they occurred, give us their version, or rather perversions of them, always colored by their political prejudices, or distorted to establish some theory ...

Religion converts despair, which destroys, into resignation, which submits.

One of the most marked characteristics of our day is a reckless neglect of principles, and a rigid adherence to their semblance.

Haste is always ungraceful.

A woman's head is always influenced by her heart, but a man's heart is always influenced by his head.

A profound knowledge of life is the least enviable of all species of knowledge, because it can only be acquired by trials that make us regret the loss of our ignorance.

Many minds that have withstood the most severe trials have been broken down by a succession of ignoble cares.

The vices of the rich and great are mistaken for error; and those of the poor and lowly, for crimes.