Alexandre Dumas Quotations

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

Only a man who has felt ultimate despair is capable of feeling ultimate bliss.

Happiness is like those palaces in fairy tales whose gates are guarded by dragons: we must fight in order to conquer it.

All for one, one for all, that is our device.

He was thinking alone, and seriously racking his brain to find a direction for this single force four times multiplied, with which he did not doubt, as with the lever for which Archimedes sought, they should succeed in moving the world, when some one tapped gently at his door.

It is rare that one can see in a little boy the promise of a man, but one can almost always see in a little girl the threat of a woman.

It is almost as difficult to keep a first class person in a fourth class job, as it is to keep a fourth class person in a first class job.

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.

For all evils there are two remedies - time and silence.

I hate this life of the fashionable world, always ordered, measured, ruled, like our music-paper. What I have always wished for, desired, and coveted, is the life of an artist, free and independent, relying only on my own resources, and accountable only to myself.

Woman is sacred; the woman one loves is holy.

...know you not that you are my sun by day, and my star by night? By my faith! I was in deepest darkness till you appeared and illuminated all.

There is neither happiness nor unhappiness in this world; there is only the comparison of one state with another. Only a man who has felt ultimate despair is capable of feeling ultimate bliss. It is necessary to have wished for death in order to know how good it is to live.....the sum of all human wisdom will be contained in these two words: Wait and Hope.

Life is a storm, my young friend. You will bask in the sunlight one moment, be shattered on the rocks the next. What makes you a man is what you do when that storm comes.

All for one and one for all, united we stand divided we fall.

Life is a storm. One minute you will bathe under the sun and the next you will be shattered upon the rocks. That's when you shout, "Do your worst, for I will do mine!" and you will be remembered forever.

Pure love and suspicion cannot dwell together: at the door where the latter enters, the former makes its exit.

There are two ways of seeing: with the body and with the soul. The body's sight can sometimes forget, but the soul remembers forever.

The difference between treason and patriotism is only a matter of dates.

True love always makes a man better, no matter what woman inspires it.

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

Ah, lips that say one thing, while the heart thinks another,

To learn is not to know; there are the learners and the learned. Memory makes the one, philosophy the others.

Unfortunates, who ought to begin with God, do not have any hope in him till they have exhausted all other means of deliverance.

Often we pass beside happiness without seeing it, without looking at it, or even if we have seen and looked at it, without recognizing it.

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.

Be happy, noble heart, be blessed for all the good thou hast done and wilt do hereafter, and let my gratitude remain in obscurity like your good deeds.

One's work may be finished someday, but one's education never.

Without reflecting that this is the only moment in which you can study character," said the count; "on the steps of the scaffold death tears off the mask that has been worn through life, and the real visage is disclosed.

We are always in a hurry to be happy...; for when we have suffered a long time, we have great difficulty in believing in good fortune.

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.

I'm sure you're very nice, but you'd be even nicer if you went away.

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

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.

I have always had more dread of a pen, a bottle of ink, and a sheet of paper than of a sword or pistol.

How is it that little children are so intelligent and men so stupid? It must be education that does it.

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.

How did I escape? With difficulty. How did I plan this moment? With pleasure.

So rapid is the flight of dreams upon the wings of imagination.

If God were suddenly condemned to live the life which He has inflicted upon men, He would kill Himself.

Women are never so strong as after their defeat.

Youth is a blossom whose fruit is love; happy is he who plucks it after watching it slowly ripen.

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

Be kind, aim for my heart.

In every country where independence has taken the place of liberty, the first desire of a manly heart is to possess a weapon which at once renders him capable of defence or attack, and, by rendering its owner fearsome, makes him feared.

The merit of all things lies in their difficulty.

If it is ones lot to be cast among fools, one must learn foolishness.-The Count of Monte Cristo

I am not proud, but I am happy; and happiness blinds, I think, more than pride.

Never fear quarrels, but seek hazardous adventures.

Wait, and hope" (The Count of Monte Cristo)

My son, be worthy of your noble name, worthily borne by your ancestors for over five hundred years. Remember it’s by courage, and courage alone, that a nobleman makes his way nowadays. Don’t be afraid of opportunities, and seek out adventures. My son, all I have to give you is fifteen ecus, my horse, and the advice you’ve just heard. Make the most of these gifts, and have a long, happy life.

He who has felt the deepest grief is best able to experience supreme happiness.

Hatred is blind; rage carries you away; and he who pours out vengeance runs the risk of tasting a bitter draught.

I prefer the wicked rather than the foolish. The wicked sometimes rest.

Athos liked every one to exercise his own free-will. He never gave his advice before it was demanded and even then it must be demanded twice. "In general, people only ask for advice," he said "that they may not follow it or if they should follow it that they may have somebody to blame for having given it".

I am strong against everything, except against the death of those I love. He who dies gains; he who sees others die loses.

Why, in truth, sir," was Monte Cristo's reply, "man is but an ugly caterpillar for him who studies him through a solar microscope; but you said, I think, that I had nothing else to do. Now, really, let me ask, sir, have you? — do you believe you have anything to do? or to speak in plain terms, do you really think that what you do deserves being called anything?

Time, dear friend, time brings round opportunity; opportunity is the martingale of man. The more we have ventured the more we gain, when we know how to wait.

So heavy is the chain of wedlock that it needs two to carry it, and sometimes three.

Porthos: He thinks he can challenge the mighty Porthos with a sword... D'Artagnan: The mighty who? Porthos: Don't tell me you've never heard of me. D'Artagnan: The world's biggest windbag? Porthos: Little pimple... meet me behind the Luxembourg at 1 o'clock and bring a long wooden box. D'Artagnan: Bring your own... Porthos: [laughs]

There are people who are willing to suffer and swallow their tears at leisure, and God will not doubt reward them in heaven for their resignation; but those who have the will to struggle strike back at fate in retaliation for the blows they receive. Do you intend to fight back at fate, Valentine? That's what I came here to ask you. -Maximilien Morrel

Abbe Faria: Here is your final lesson - do not commit the crime for which you now serve the sentence. God said, Vengeance is mine. Edmond Dantes: I don't believe in God. Abbe Faria: It doesn't matter. He believes in you.

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

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

...The friends we have lost do not repose under the ground...they are buried deep in our hearts. It has been thus ordained that they may always accompany us...

You who weep for pleasures fled, While dragging on a life of care, All your woes will melt in air, If to god your tears are shed, You who Weap!

Philosophy cannot be taught; it is the application of the sciences to truth.

But Valentine, why despair, why always paint the future in such sombre hues?" Maximilien asked. "Because, my friend, I judge it by the past.

It was like the eve of a battle; the hearts beat, the eyes laughed, and they felft that the life they were perhaps going to lose, was after all, a good thing.

One always hurries towards happiness, Monsieur Danglars, because when one has suffered much, one is at pains to believe in it.

A weakened mind always sees everything through a black veil. The soul makes its own horizons; your soul is dark, which is why you see such a cloudy sky.

Pain, thou art not an evil

Besides we are men, and after all it is our business to risk our lives.

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.

I do not cling to life sufficiently to fear death.

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

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.

Everyone knows that drunkards and lovers have a protecting diety.

Why do you mention my father?' screamed he; 'Why do you mingle a recollection of him with the affairs of today?' Because I am he who saved your father's life when he wished to destroy himself, as you do today-because I am the man who sent the purse to your young sister, and the Paraon to Old Morrel-because I am the Edmond Dantes who nursed you, a child, on my knees.

So much the worse for those who fear wine, for it is because they have some bad thoughts which they are afraid the liquor will extract from their hearts.

Happiness is egotistical.

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.

Sometimes one has suffered enough to have the right to never say: I am too happy.

Misfortune does not help us to believe.

For there are two distinct sorts of ideas: Those that proceed from the head and those that emanate from the heart.

You scholars, you're in communication with the devil.

D’Artagnan: Why is Athos sitting by himself? Aramis: He takes his drinking very seriously. Not to worry, he’ll be his usual charming self by morning.

What I’ve loved most after you, is myself: that is, my dignity and that strength which made me superior to other men. That Strength was my life. You’ve broken it with a word, so I must die.

Life is very tenacious in these lawyers.

...but my friends call me Edmund Dantes.

Now I'd like someone to tell me there is no drama in real life!

True, I have raped history, but it has produced some beautiful offspring.

Haste is a poor counselor

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.

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.

It is the way of weakened minds to see everything through a black cloud. The soul forms its own horizons; your soul is darkened, and consequently the sky of the future appears stormy and unpromising

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.

It is the infirmity of our nature always to believe ourselves much more unhappy than those who groan by our sides!

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

Within six months, if I am not dead, I shall have seen you again, madam--even if I have to overturn the world.