Quotes from Alexandre Dumas

He was a fine, tall, slim young fellow, with black eyes, and hair as dark as the raven's wing; and his whole appearance bespoke that calmness and resolution peculiar to men accustomed from their cradle to contend with danger.

But there is this terrible thing in evil thoughts, that evil minds soon grow familiar with them.

Kitty: I thought your ladyship was ill. I wanted to help you. Lady deWinter: I ill? Do you take me for a weak woman? When I am insulted I do not feel ill - I avenge myself. Do you hear?

Yes; I am a supercargo; pen, ink, and paper are my tools, and without my tools I am fit for nothing.

There are some catastrophes that a poor writer's pen cannot describe and which he is obliged to leave to the imagination of his readers with a bald statement of the facts.

There are misfortunes in life that no one will accept; people would rather believe in the supernatural and the impossible.

for, however all other feelings may be withered in a woman's nature, there is always one bright smiling spot in the maternal breast, and that is where a dearly-beloved child is concerned.

It was one of those rare and beautiful days in winter when England remembers that there is a sun. The star of the day, pale but nevertheless still splendid, was setting in the horizon, glorifying at one the heavens and the sea with bands of fire, and casting upon the tower and the old houses of the city a last ray of gold which made the windows sparkle like the reflection of a conflagration.

Gli uomini veramente generosi sono sempre pronti a divenire compassionevoli allorché la disgrazia del nemico supera i limiti del loro odio.

Capricious and unfaithful, the king wished to be called Louis the Just and Louis the Chaste. Posterity will find a difficulty in understanding this character, which history explains only by facts and never by reason.

His fair landlady was in despair. She would most willingly have made M. d'Artagnan her husband--such a handsome man, and such a fierce mustache!

You were able to wait,' said Dantes, sighing. 'Your long labor gave you a constant occupation, and when you didn't have your work to distract you, you had your hopes to console you.

Why does a steward steal? He steals because he's not sure he'll always remain with his master and wants to make his future secure.

Il y a une femme dans toutes les affaires; aussitôt qu'on me fait un rapport, je dis: 'Cherchez la femme'.

that Englishman who came to challenge me three or four months ago, and whom I killed to stop him bothering me

Men who swear undying love sometimes have the worst intentions in the world.

But that's not the name of a man, it's the name of a mountain! (...) It is my name, Athos said calmly. But you said your name was d'Artagnan. I? Yes, you. That is to say, someone said to me: 'You are M. d'Artagnan?' I replied: 'You think so?' My guards shouted that they were sure of it. I did not want to vex them. Besides, I might have been mistaken.

In this world, all--men, women, and kings--must live for the present. We can only live for the future for God

There is neither happiness nor misery in the world; there is only the comparison of one state with another.

The hungry men were seen, followed by their valets, roaming the quais and guards' quarters; gleaning from their outside friends all the dinners they could find; for, according to Aramis, in prosperity one should sow meals right and left, in order to harvest some in adversity.

Patience is not my dominant virtue. --D'Artagnan

Come now, be a man!' he thought. 'We are used to adversity; let's not be crushed by a mere disappointment, or else I shall have suffered for nothing. The heart breaks when it has swelled too much in the warm breath of hope, then finds itself enclosed in cold reality.

Business? It's quite simple. It's other people's money.

and I will say to you, rude as it may seem, `My brother, you sacrifice greatly to pride; you may be above others, but above you there is God.