Quotes from Alexandre Dumas

Return to the world still more brilliant because of your former sorrows.

Ah, said the jailer, do not always brood over what is impossible, or you will be mad in a fortnight.

There are some situations which men understand by instinct, by which reason is powerless to explain; in such cases the greatest poet is he who gives utterance to the most natural and vehement outburst of sorrow. Those who hear the bitter cry are as much impressed as if they listened to an entire poem, and when th sufferer is sincere they are right in regarding his outburst as sublime.

In all times, and all countries especially in those countries which are divided within by religious faith, there are always fanatics who will be well contented to be regarded as martyrs.

You're not worried about anything, are you? said Danglers. It seems to me everything's going perfectly for you. That's exactly what worries me, replied Dantes. I don't think man was meant to attain happiness so easily. Happiness is like those palaces in fairy tales whose gates are guarded by dragons: we must fight in order to conquer it.

Joy to hearts which have suffered long is like the dew on the ground after a long drought; both the heart and the ground absorb that beneficent moisture falling on them, and nothing is outwardly apparant.

I came to Paris with four écus in my pocket, and I'd have fought with anybody who told me I was in no condition to buy the Louvre.

We'll go where the air is pure, where all sounds are soothing, where, no matter how proud one may be, one feels humble and finds oneself small- in short, we'll go to the sea. I love the sea as one loves a mistress and I long for her when I haven't seen her for some time

We are never quits with those who oblige us, was Dantes' reply; for when we do not owe them money, we owe them gratitude.

Tell the angel who will watch over your life to pray now and then for a man who, like Satan, believed himself for an instant to be equal to God, but who realized in all humility that supreme power and wisdom are in the hands of God alone.

in prosperity prayers seem but a mere medley of words, until misfortune comes and the unhappy sufferer first understands the meaning of the sublime language in which he invokes the pity of heaven!

I have been taken by Satan into the highest mountain in the earth, and when there he said he to me, 'Child of earth, what wouldst thou have to make thee adore me?' I replied, 'Listen, I wish to be Providence myself, for I feel that the most beautiful, noblest, most sublime thing in the world, is to recompense and punish.

When one loves, one is only too ready to believe one's love returned.

He who has a partner has a master.

I have no fear of ghosts, and I have never heard it said that so much harm had been done by the dead during 6,000 years as it brought by the living in a single day.

To save a man and thereby to spare a father's agony and a mother's feelings is not to do a noble deed, it is but an act of humanity.

Weakened minds see everything through a black veil; the soul forms its own horizons; your soul is darkened, and consequently the sky of your future appears stormy and unpromising.

God is always the last resource.

does that not tell you that grief is like life and that there is always somethings unknown beyond it?

Upon my word,' said Dantes, 'you make me tremble. If I listen much longer to you, I shall believe the world is filled with tigers and crocodiles.' 'Remember that two-legged tigers and crocodiles are more dangerous than those that walk on four.

No, I slept as I always do when I am bored and have not the courage to amuse myself, or when I am hungry and have not the desire to eat.--The Count of Monte Cristo

Edmond Dantes: I don't believe in God. Abbe Faria: That doesn't matter, He believes in you…

I have lost my friends, D'Artagnan said ruefully, burying his head in his hands. I have nothing left but the bitterest of recollections... Two large tears rolled down his cheeks. You are young, Athos answered. Your bitter recollections have the time requisite to change into the happiest of memories.

Hard decisions, sacrifices doesn't keep you warm at night, life's too damn short, too damn long to continue without someone at your side