159 Quotes & Sayings By Alexandre Dumas

Alexandre Dumas was born in Paris on January 24, 1802, to a family of minor nobility. He was orphaned at the age of nine, and received an education in a Catholic boarding school. At the age of eighteen, he left school to join the army, where he had success as a soldier, rising to the rank of captain. His greatest literary success came with the publication of his novel The Three Musketeers Read more

The book was an enormous success in France, but had only limited impact outside the country. Dumas's plays were also successful, particularly his dramas of intrigue—The Three Musketeers and Twenty Years After. He began writing fiction again at age fifty-five with The Man in the Iron Mask and continued to publish novels and plays until his death on August 31, 1870.

Woman is sacred the woman one loves is holy.
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Woman is sacred the woman one loves is holy. Alexandre Dumas
True love always makes a man better, no matter what...
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True love always makes a man better, no matter what woman inspires it. Alexandre Dumas
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Love is the most selfish of all the passions. Alexandre Dumas
Moral wounds have this peculiarity - they may be hidden,...
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Moral wounds have this peculiarity - they may be hidden, but they never close; always painful, always ready to bleed when touched, they remain fresh and open in the heart. Alexandre Dumas
When you compare the sorrows of real life to the...
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When you compare the sorrows of real life to the pleasures of the imaginary one, you will never want to live again, only to dream forever. Alexandre Dumas
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Those born to wealth, and who have the means of gratifying every wish, know not what is the real happiness of life, just as those who have been tossed on the stormy waters of the ocean on a few frail planks can alone realize the blessings of fair weather. Alexandre Dumas
I do not cling to life sufficiently to fear death.
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I do not cling to life sufficiently to fear death. Alexandre Dumas
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There is neither happiness nor misery in the world; there is only the comparison of one state with another, nothing more. He who has felt the deepest grief is best able to experience supreme happiness. We must have felt what it is to die, Morrel, that we may appreciate the enjoyments of life. " Live, then, and be happy, beloved children of my heart, and never forget, that until the day God will deign to reveal the future to man, all human wisdom is contained in these two words, 'Wait and Hope. . Alexandre Dumas
How is it that little children are so intelligent and...
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How is it that little children are so intelligent and men so stupid? It must be education that does it Alexandre Dumas
Learning does not make one learned: there are those who...
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Learning does not make one learned: there are those who have knowledge and those who have understanding. The first requires memory and the second philosophy. Alexandre Dumas
Until the day when God shall deign to reveal the...
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Until the day when God shall deign to reveal the future to man, all human wisdom is summed up in these two words, - Wait and hope. Alexandre Dumas
To learn is not to know; there are the learners...
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To learn is not to know; there are the learners and the learned. Memory makes the one, philosophy the others. Alexandre Dumas
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Perhaps what I am about to say will appear strange to you gentlemen, socialists, progressives, humanitarians as you are, but I never worry about my neighbor, I never try to protect society which does not protect me -- indeed, I might add, which generally takes no heed of me except to do me harm -- and, since I hold them low in my esteem and remain neutral towards them, I believe that society and my neighbor are in my debt. Alexandre Dumas
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Il y a les sachants et les savants: c'est la mémoire qui fait les uns, c'est la philosophie qui fait les autres. La philosophie ne s'apprend pas; la philosophie est la réunion des sciences acquises au génie qui les applique. Alexandre Dumas
For the happy man prayer is only a jumble of...
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For the happy man prayer is only a jumble of words, until the day when sorrow comes to explain to him the sublime language by means of which he speaks to God. Alexandre Dumas
Everyone knows that God protects drunkards and lovers.
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Everyone knows that God protects drunkards and lovers. Alexandre Dumas
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Look, look, ' cried the count, seizing the young man's hands - "look, for on my soul it is curious. Here is a man who had resigned himself to his fate, who was going to the scaffold to die - like a coward, it is true, but he was about to die without resistance. Do you know what gave him strength? - do you know what consoled him? It was, that another partook of his punishment - that another partook of his anguish - that another was to die before him. Lead two sheep to the butcher's, two oxen to the slaughterhouse, and make one of them understand that his companion will not die; the sheep will bleat for pleasure, the ox will bellow with joy. But man - man, who God created in his own image - man, upon whom God has laid his first, his sole commandment, to love his neighbour - man, to whom God has given a voice to express his thoughts - what is his first cry when he hears his fellowman is saved? A blasphemy. Honour to man, this masterpiece of nature, this king of the creation! . Alexandre Dumas
Unfortunates, who ought to begin with God, do not have...
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Unfortunates, who ought to begin with God, do not have any hope in him till they have exhausted all other means of deliverance. Alexandre Dumas
God, who might have directed the assassin's dagger so as...
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God, who might have directed the assassin's dagger so as to end your career in a moment, has given you this quarter of an hour for repentance. Reflect, then, wretched man, and repent. Alexandre Dumas
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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. Alexandre Dumas
Darling, has not the count just told us that all...
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Darling, has not the count just told us that all human wisdom is summed up in two words? Wait and hope. Alexandre Dumas
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Utterly sure of himself, convinced of his power, certain that the laws that governed other men couldn't touch him, he made straight for any goal he set himself, however rarified and dazzling, even if it were folly for anyone else to even consider it. Alexandre Dumas
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After which, satisfied with the way he had conducted himself at Meung, free of remorse for the past, confident in the present, and full of hope for the future, he went to bed and slept the sleep of the just. Alexandre Dumas
Never be afraid of opportunities, always be on the lookout...
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Never be afraid of opportunities, always be on the lookout for adventures. Alexandre Dumas
I am not proud, but I am happy; and happiness...
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I am not proud, but I am happy; and happiness blinds, I think, more than pride. Alexandre Dumas
Happiness is like those palaces in fairytales whose gates are...
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Happiness is like those palaces in fairytales whose gates are guarded by dragons: We must fight in order to conquer it. Alexandre Dumas
He who has felt the deepest grief is best able...
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He who has felt the deepest grief is best able to experience supreme happiness. Alexandre Dumas
There is neither happiness nor misery in the world; there...
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There is neither happiness nor misery in the world; there is only the comparison of one state with another, nothing more. Alexandre Dumas
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So, preferring death to capture, I accomplished the most astonishing deeds, and which, more then once, showed me that the too great care we take of our bodies is the only obstacle to the sucess of those projects which require rapid decision, and vigorous and determined execution. In reality, when you have once devoted your life to your enterprises, you are no longer the equal of other men, or, rather, other men are no longer your equals, and whosoever has taken this resolution, feels his strength and resources doubled. Alexandre Dumas
That is a dream also; only he has remained asleep,...
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That is a dream also; only he has remained asleep, while you have awakened; and who knows which of you is the most fortunate? Alexandre Dumas
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Dite all’ Angelo che veglierà sulla vostra vita, Morrel, di pregare qualche volta per un uomo che, simile a Satana, per un momento si è creduto simile a Dio e ha riconosciuto, con tutta l’umiltà di un cristiano, che nelle mani di Dio soltanto sta il supremo potere e la infinita sapienza Alexandre Dumas
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I began a poem in lines of one syllable. It's rather difficult, but the merit of all things lies in their difficulty. The subject matter is gallant. I'll read you the first canto; it's four hundred verses long and takes one minute. Alexandre Dumas
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Pain anguish and suffering in human life are always in proportion to the strength with which a man is endowed. We will not pretend to say that Heaven always apportions to a man's capability of endurance the anguish with which he afflicts him... Suffering is in proportion to the strength which has been accorded in other words the weak suffer more where the trial is the same than the strong. Alexandre Dumas
It is necessary ... to yield to the storm, purchase...
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It is necessary ... to yield to the storm, purchase a peace, and wait patiently for better times. Alexandre Dumas
I never swear, Monseigneur. I say Yes or No, and...
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I never swear, Monseigneur. I say Yes or No, and as I am a gentleman, I keep my word. Alexandre Dumas
I have always had more dread of a pen, a...
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I have always had more dread of a pen, a bottle of ink, and a sheet of paper than of a sword or pistol. Alexandre Dumas
In all times, and all countries especially in those countries...
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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. Alexandre Dumas
The merit of all things lies in their difficulty.
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The merit of all things lies in their difficulty. Alexandre Dumas
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A person who doubts himself is like a man who would enlist in the ranks of his enemies and bear arms against himself. He makes his failures certain by himself being the first person to be convinced of it. Alexandre Dumas
Nothing succeeds like success.
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Nothing succeeds like success. Alexandre Dumas
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Nothing makes time pass or shortens the way like a thought that absorbs in itself all the faculties of the one who is thinking. External existence is then like a sleep of which this thought is the dream. Under its influence, time has no more measure, space has no more distance. Alexandre Dumas
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My dear fellow " Said Albert, turning to Franz " here is an admirable adventure; we will fill our carriage with pistols, blunderbusses, and double-barreled shotguns. Luigi Vampa comes to take us, and we take him - we bring him back to Rome , and present him to him holiness the Pope, who asks how he can repay so great a service; Then we merely ask for a cariage and a pair of horses, and we will see the Carnival in the carriage , and doubtless the Roman people will crown us at the capitol , and proclaim us, like Curtius and the veiled Horatius, the preservers of there country." Whilst Albert proposed this scheme, signor Pastrini's face assumed an expression impossible to describe. Alexandre Dumas
The truth is that you are afraid.'' Afraid? I do...
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The truth is that you are afraid.'' Afraid? I do not know all the words in the Parisian jargon, and I know not what you mean. Alexandre Dumas
There is no friendship that cares about an overheard secret.
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There is no friendship that cares about an overheard secret. Alexandre Dumas
Friendship throws out deep roots in honest hearts, D'Artagnan. Believe...
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Friendship throws out deep roots in honest hearts, D'Artagnan. Believe me, it is only the evil-minded who deny friendship; they cannot understand it. Alexandre Dumas
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Joyful friends, mostly loyal, they hadn't abandoned their protector before the gathering storm; and despite the threatening sky, despite the shuddering earth, they remained, smiling, considerate, and as devoted to misfortune as they had been to prosperity. Alexandre Dumas
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The King! I thought him enough of a philosopher to realize that there is no such thing as murder in politics. You know as well as I do, my dear boy, that in politics there are no people, only ideas; no feelings, only interests. In politics, you don't kill a man, you remove an obstacle, that's all. Alexandre Dumas
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The king! I thought he was philosopher enough to allow that there was no murder in politics. In politics, my dear fellow, you know, as well as I do, there are no men, but ideas - no feelings, but interests; in politics we do not kill a man, we only remove an obstacle, that is all. Alexandre Dumas
In politics, you know, as well as I do, there...
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In politics, you know, as well as I do, there are no men, but ideas - no feelings, but interests. Alexandre Dumas
How singular,
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How singular, " murmured Maximillian; "your father hates me, while your grandfather, on the contrary -- What strange feelings are aroused by politics. Alexandre Dumas
Women are never so strong as after their defeat.
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Women are never so strong as after their defeat. Alexandre Dumas
We said we would be to each other as two...
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We said we would be to each other as two voices, who shadows. Alexandre Dumas
D'Artagnan had time to reflect that women - those gentle...
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D'Artagnan had time to reflect that women - those gentle doves - treat one another more cruelly than bears and tigers. Alexandre Dumas
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You are perfectly right in objecting to them [modern art], for this one great fault - that they have not yet had time to become old. Alexandre Dumas
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It is quite rare for God to provide a great man at the necessary moment to carry out some great deep, which is why when this unusual combination of circumstance does occur, history at once records the name of the chosen one and recommends him to the admiration of posterity. Alexandre Dumas
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We are entitled to violate history, provided that it results in handsome offspring. Alexandre Dumas
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As it was a time of war between the Catholics and the Huguenots, and as he saw the Catholics exterminate the Huguenots and the Huguenots exterminate the Catholics--all in the name of religion--he adopted a mixed belief which permitted him to be sometimes Catholic, sometimes a Huguenot. Now, he was accustomed to walk with his fowling piece on his shoulder, behind the hedges which border the roads, and when he saw a Catholic coming alone, the Protestant religion immediately prevailed in his mind. He lowered his gun in the direction of the traveler; then, when he was within ten paces of him, he commenced a conversation which almost always ended by the traveler's abandoning his purse to save his life. It goes without saying that when he saw a Huguenot coming, he felt himself filled with such ardent Catholic zeal that he could not understand how, a quarter of an hour before, he had been able to have any doubts upon the superiority of our holy religion. . Alexandre Dumas
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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. Alexandre Dumas
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But these first needs of the heart are so imperious, these outpourings of amorous melancholy in young people are at once so sweet and so bitter, that they have often all the real marks of the passion. Alexandre Dumas
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The kingdoms of kings are confined, either by mountains or rivers, or by a change in customs or by a difference of language; but my kingdom is as great as the world, because I am neither Italian, nor French, nor Hindu, nor American, nor a Spaniard; I am a cosmopolitan. No country can claim to be my birthplace, God alone knows in which region I shall die. I adopt every custom, I speak every tongue [.. ] In this way, you see, being of no country, asking for the protection of no goverment and acknowledging no man as my brother, I am not restrained or hampered by a single one of the scruples that tie the hands of the powerful or the obstacles that block the path of the weak. . Alexandre Dumas
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Besides we are men, and after all it is our business to risk our lives. Alexandre Dumas
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We must never expect discretion in first love: it is accompanied by such excessive joy that unless the joy is allowed to overflow, it will choke you. Alexandre Dumas
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I was delighted to see you again, and forgot for the moment that all happiness is fleeting. Alexandre Dumas
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The truth is, ’ replied Dantes, ‘that I am too happy for noisy mirth; ...joy takes a strange effect at times, it seems to oppress us almost the same as sorrow. Alexandre Dumas
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Go, " said the count deliberately, "go, dear friend, but promise me, if you meet with any obstacle to remember that I have some power in this world; that I am happy to use that power in the behalf of those I love; and that I love you, Morrel.""I will remember it, " said the young man, "as selfish children recollect their parents when they want their aid. When I need your assistance, and the moment may come, I will come to you, count. Alexandre Dumas
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No, monsieur, ” returned Monte Cristo “upon the simple condition that they should respect myself and my friends. Perhaps what I am about to say may seem strange to you, who are socialists, and vaunt humanity and your duty to your neighbor, but I never seek to protect a society which does not protect me, and which I will even say, generally occupies itself about me only to injure me; and thus by giving them a low place in my esteem, and preserving a neutrality towards them, it is society and my neighbor who are indebted to me. Alexandre Dumas
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Let me struggle like a woman- my strength lies in my weakness. - Milady Alexandre Dumas
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My friend, let us enjoy the present and give no thought to the evils of the future. Alexandre Dumas
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He who has felt the deepest grief is best able to experience supreme happiness. We must have felt what it is to die, Morrel, that we may appreciate the enjoyments of life. Live, then, and be happy, beloved children of my heart, and never forget, that until the day when God will deign to reveal the future to man, all human wisdom is contained in these two words, - ‘Wait and hope.’ — Your friend, Edmond Dantes, Count of Monte Cristo. The eyes of both were fixed on the spot indicated by the sailor, and on the blue-line separating the sky from the Mediterranean Sea, they perceived a large white sail. . Alexandre Dumas
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There are words which close a conversation as with an iron door. Alexandre Dumas
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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. Alexandre Dumas
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Valentine reposes within the walls of Paris, and to leave Paris is like losing her a second time."" Maximilian, " said the count, "the friends that we have lost do not repose in the bosom of the earth, but are buried deep in our hearts, and it has been thus ordained that we may always be accompanied by them. Alexandre Dumas
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There are cancers so insidious in their nature that their very pulsation is invisible. Such cancers leave the ivory whiteness of the skin untouched, and marble not the firm, fair flesh, with their blue tints; the physician who bends over the patient's chest hears not, through he listens, the insatiable teeth of the disease grinding its onward progress through the muscles, as the blood flows freely on; the knife has never been able to destroy, and rarely even, temporarily, to discern the rage of these mortal scourges; their home is in the mind, which they corrupt; they fill the whole heart until it breaks. Such, madame, are the cancers, fatal to queens; are you, too, free from their scourge? . Alexandre Dumas
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Can we account for instinct?' said Monte Cristo. 'Are there not some places where we seem to breathe sadness? – why, we cannot tell. It is a chain of recollections – an idea which carries you back to other times, to other places – which, very likely, have no connection with the present time and place. Alexandre Dumas
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Oh, Mercédès, I have spoken your name with sighs of melancholy, with groans of pain and with the croak of despair. I have spoken it frozen with cold, huddled on the straw of my dungeon. I have spoken it raging with heat and rolling around on the stone floor of my prison. Mercédès, I must have my revenge, because for fourteen years I suffered, fourteen years I wept and cursed. Now, I say to you, Mercédès, I must have my revenge! . Alexandre Dumas
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Man does not steal, he conquers Alexandre Dumas
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So rapid is the flight of dreams upon the wings of imagination. Alexandre Dumas
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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. Alexandre Dumas
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In business, sir, one has no friends, only correspondents. Alexandre Dumas
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Athos was delighted to find he was going to fight an Englishman. We might say that was his dream. Alexandre Dumas
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MY GOD! ' read Monte Cristo, 'LET ME KEEP MY MEMORY! Alexandre Dumas
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There is something so awe-inspiring in great afflictions that even in the worst times the first emotion of a crowd has generally been to sympathise with the sufferer in a great catastrophe. Alexandre Dumas
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To wait at Monte Cristo for the purpose of watching like a dragon over the almost incalculable richs that had thus fallen into his possession satisfied not the cravings of his heart, which yearned to return to dwell among mankind, and to assume the rank, power, and influence which are always accorded to wealth – that first and greatest of all the forces within the grasp of man. Alexandre Dumas
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This sometimes happened: from time to time, Dantès, driven out of solitude into the world, felt an imperative need for solitude. And what solitude is more vast and more poetic than that of a ship sailing alone on the sea, in the darkness of night and the silence of infinity, under the eye of the Lord? Alexandre Dumas
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Sometimes one has suffered enough to have the right to never say: I am too happy. Alexandre Dumas
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Sometimes salvation is found in agony. Alexandre Dumas
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Life is no more than the repeated fulfilling of a permanent desire. Alexandre Dumas
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Never fear quarrels, but seek hazardous adventures. Alexandre Dumas
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No one is as brave, as adventurous or as skillful as D'Artagnan, without at the same time being inclined to be a dreamer. Alexandre Dumas
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Mastery of language affords one remarkable opportunities. Alexandre Dumas
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For Milady was well aware that her most seductive power was in her voice, which could run skilfully through the whole scale of tones, from mortal speech, upwards to the language of heaven. Alexandre Dumas
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You are my son Dantés! You are the child of my captivity. My priestly office condemned me to celibacy: God sent you to me both to console the man who could not be a father and the prisoner who could not be free Alexandre Dumas
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...M. Danglars, who had listened to all this preamble with imperturbable coolness, but without understanding a word, engaged as he was, like every man burdened with thoughts of the past, in seeking the thread of his own ideas in those of the speaker. Alexandre Dumas
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You are young, " replied Athos, "and your bitter memories have time to change into sweet ones. Alexandre Dumas
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What would you not have accomplished if you had been free?"" Possibly nothing at all; the overflow of my brain would probably, in a state of freedom, have evaporated in a thousand follies; misfortune is needed to bring to light the treasures of the human intellect. Compression is needed to explode gunpowder. Captivity has brought my mental faculties to a focus; and you are well aware that from the collision of clouds electricity is produced – from electricity, lightning, from lightning, illumination. Alexandre Dumas
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Danglars was one of those men born with a pen behind the ear, and an inkstand in place of a heart. Everything with him was multiplication or subtraction. The life of a man was to him of far less value than a numeral, especially when, by taking it away, he could increase the sum total of his own desires. He went to bed at his usual hour, and slept in peace. Alexandre Dumas
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As a general rule...people ask for advice only in order not to follow it; or if they do follow it, in order to have someone to blame for giving it. Alexandre Dumas
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Besides, we feel always a sort of mental superiority over those whose lives we know better than they suppose. Alexandre Dumas
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The voice of human nature is nothing but one prolonged cry. Alexandre Dumas
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God may seem sometimes to forget for a while, whilst his justice reposes, but there always comes a moment when he remembers. Alexandre Dumas