Quotes from Alexandre Dumas

Has not, they would say, this Cornelius de Witt been locked up and broken by the rack? Shall we not see him pale, streaming with blood, covered with shame? And was not this a sweet triumph for the burghers of the Hague, whose envy even beat that of the common rabble; a triumph in which every honest citizen and townsman might be expected to share?

Con voi, mio caro conte, non si vive, si sogna.

Danglars was one of those men born with a pen behind the ear, and an inkstand in place of a heart.

on the steps of the scaffold death tears off the mask that has been worn through life, and the real visage is disclosed.

Sí, la adhesión, que así en términos decorosos se llama a la ambición que espera.

Ainsi Dantès, qui, il y a trois mois, n'aspirait qu'à la liberté, n'avait déjà plus assez de la liberté et aspirait à la richesse; la faute n'en était pas à Dantès, mais à Dieu, qui, en bornant la puissance de l'homme, lui a fait des désirs infinis!

the marquise had often said that there are means to get rid of people one dislikes, and they can easily be put an end to in a bowl of soup.

Lo que voy a deciros se os antojará extraño a vosotros, señores socialistas, progresistas, humanitaristas, y es que yo no me ocupo nunca de mi prójimo, no procuro nunca proteger a la sociedad que no me protege, y diré aún más, que no se ocupa generalmente de mí, sino para perjudicarme, y retirándoles mi estimación y guardando la neutralidad frente a ellos, es aún la sociedad y mi prójimo quienes me deben agradecimiento.

It would have made a fine picture, worthy of Rembrandt, the gloomy winding stairs illuminated by the reddish glare of the cresset of Gryphus, with his scowling jailer's countenance at the top, the melancholy figure of Cornelius bending over the banister to look down upon the sweet face of Rosa, standing, as it were, in the bright frame of the door of her chamber, with embarrassed mien at being thus seen by a stranger.

and what solitude is more complete, or more poetical, than that of a ship floating in isolation on the sea during the obscurity of the night, in the silence of immensity, and under the eye of heaven?

Não é a árvore que deixa a flor, é a flor que deixa a árvore

o encanto indefinido que está para a mulher como o perfume está para a flor e o sabor para o fruto. Porque não basta uma flor ser bela, nem um fruto ser agradável à vista

The brothers De Witt have been judged by the people, said Gryphus; you call that murdered, do you? well, I call it executed.

A father's sufferings may affect great changes in the mind of a son.

Athos, according to his system, neither encouraged nor dissuaded him.

Voi donne, viceversa, ben di rado siete tormentate dai rimorsi, giacché ben di rado la decisione origina da voi, le vostre sventure quasi sempre sono il crimine altrui.

My resolve is unwavering. But seek, Monsieur, and you will find: alas, every rich man has more than enough of poverty to pass by on his road through life!

Un académicien dirait que les soirées du monde sont des collections de fleurs qui attirent papillons inconstants, abeilles affamées et frelons bourdonnants.

But I lay down that pride before God, who brought me out of nothingness to make me what I am.

that he perceived that people said the truth and that she had poisoned all her family; to which she replied, that if she had, it was only through following bad advice, and that one could not always be good.

Bueno, siempre labios que dicen lo que el corazón no siente

Lorsqu'on fait voir à un ami une ville qu'on a déjà vue, on y met la même coquetterie qu'à montrer une femme dont on a été l'amant.

O grande ville  ! c'est dans ton sein palpitant que j'ai trouvé ce que je cherchais

prisons have doors, the tomb has none.