Pierre Corneille

He who despises life is his life's master.

Happiness seems made to be shared.

One half of my life has put the other half in the grave.

In the service of Caesar, everything is legitimate.

To vanquish without peril is to triumph without glory.

We never taste a perfect joy; our happiest successes are mixed with sadness.

When there is no peril in the fight there is no glory in the triumph.

Master of the universe but not of myself, I am the only rebel against my absolute power.

Every man of courage is a man of his word.

Clemency is the noblest trait which can reveal a true monarch to the world.

A true king is neither husband nor father; he considers his throne and nothing else.

In recounting our woes, we often soothe them.

I see, I know, I believe, I am undeceived.

Danger breeds best on too much confidence.

He who does not fear death cares naught for threats.

For souls nobly born, valor doesn't await the passing of years.

He who fears not death fears not a threat.

Treachery is noble when aimed at tyranny.

It is the crime not the scaffold which is the disgrace.

An example is often a deceptive mirror, and the order of destiny, so troubling to our thoughts, is not always found written in things past.

As great as kings may be, they are what we are: they can err like other men.

Guess, if you can, and choose, if you dare.

Each instant of life is a step toward death.

I have deserved neither so much honor or so much disgrace.

My reason, it's true, controls my feelings, but whatever its authority, it doesn't rule them so much as tyrannize them.

He who has resolved to conquer or die is seldom conquered; such noble despair perishes with difficulty.

To die for one's country is such a worthy fate that all compete for so beautiful a death.

A good memory is needed after one has lied.

The crime and not the scaffold makes the shame.

True, I am young, but for souls nobly born valor doesn't await the passing of years.

Those who easily forgive invite offenses.

One ought to have a good memory when he has told a lie.

He who can live in infamy is unworthy of life.

He who pardons easily invites offense.

Love is a tyrant sparing none.

I can be forced to live without happiness, but I will never consent to live without honor.

It is a crime against the State to be powerful enough to commit one.

Do your duty and leave the rest to heaven.

Brave men are brave from the very first.

When the patient loves his disease, how unwilling he is to allow a remedy to be applied.

Flee an enemy who knows your weakness.

My sweetest hope is to lose hope.

Ambition aspires to descend.

We triumph without glory when we conquer without danger.

They who overcome their desires once can overcome them always.

This dark brightness that falls from the stars.

Force is legitimate where gentleness avails not.

I would not like a king who could obey.

He who allows himself to be insulted deserves to be.

Alas, I emerge from one disaster to fall into a worse.

Desire increases when fulfillment is postponed.

Reason and love are sworn enemies.

When we conquer without danger our triumph is without glory.

A first impulse was never a crime.

How delicious is pleasure after torment!

I agree to, or rather aspire to, my doom.

Oh rage! Oh despair! Oh age, my enemy!

It takes good memory to keep up a lie.

The greater the effort the greater the glory.

One often calms ones grief by recounting it.

To conquer without danger is to conquer without glory.

When obedience is so impious, revolt is a necessity.

Deceit is the game of petty spirits and that is by nature a womans quality.

The subject of a good tragedy must not be realistic.

Peace is produced by war.

Heaven often regulates effects by their causes, and pays the wicked what they have deserved.

He who plays advisor is no longer ambassador.

A Victory without danger is a triumph without glory.

We never taste happiness in perfection, our most fortunate successes are mixed with sadness.

I don't know how to defend myself: surprised innocence cannot imagine being under suspicion.

It matters more how one gives than what one gives.

Do your duty and leave the rest to the gods.

Where there is no peril in the fight there is no glory in the triumph.

Oh, how sweet it is to pity the fate of an enemy who can no longer threaten us!

He who is hated by all can not expect to live long.

To take revenge halfheartedly is to court disaster; either condemn or crown your hatred.

The manner of giving is worth more than the gift.

Just vengeance does not call for punishment.

To win without risk is to triumph without glory.

The greater the effort, the greater the glory.

One often calms one's grief by recounting it.

He who allows me to rule is in fact my master.

Self-love is the source of all our other loves.

To he who avenges a father, nothing is impossible.

Severity is allowable where gentleness has no effect.

A liar is always lavish of oaths.

One is often guilty by being too just.

Deceit is the game of petty spirits, and that is by nature a woman's quality.

He who forgives readily only invites offense.

After having won a scepter, few are so generous as to disdain the pleasures of ruling.