"A kindly gesture bestowed by us on an animal arouses prodigies of understanding and gratitude."
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Quote collection
Sidonie Gabrielle Colette quotes (page 2 of 4)
80 quotes — follow a thought to its full quote page.
"On the first of May, with my comrades of the catechism class, I laid lilac, chamomile and rose before the altar of the Virgin, and returned full of pride to show my blessed posy. My mother laughed her irreverent laugh and, looking at my bunch of flowers, which was bringing the may-bug into the sitting-room right under the lamp, she said: Do you suppose it wasn't already blessed before?"
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"It takes time for the absent to assume their true shape in our thoughts."
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"There are no ordinary cats."
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"Smokers, male and female, inject and excuse idleness in their lives every time they light a cigarette."
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"Books, books, books. It was not that I read so much. I read and re-read the same ones. But all of them were necessary to me. Their presence, their smell, the letters of their titles, and the texture of their leather bindings."
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"I went to collect the few personal belongings which...I held to be invaluable: my cat, my resolve to travel, and my solitude."
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"In its early stages, insomnia is almost an oasis in which those who have to think or suffer darkly take refuge."
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"On this narrow planet, we have only the choice between two unknown worlds. One of them tempts us - ah! what a dream, to live in that! - the other stifles us at the first breath."
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"Look for a long time at what pleases you, and a longer time at what pains you."
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"The lovesick, the betrayed, and the jealous all smell alike."
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"beautiful December grapes, blue as plums, every grape a little skinful of sweet, tasteless water"
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"Writing only leads to more writing."
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"One keeps forgetting old age up to the very brink of the grave."
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"Sincerity is not a spontaneous flower nor is modesty either."
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"January, month of empty pockets! let us endure this evil month, anxious as a theatrical producer's forehead."
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"It's so curious: one can resist tears and 'behave' very well in the hardest hours of grief. But then someone makes you a friendly sign behind a window, or one notices that a flower that was in bud only yesterday has suddenly blossomed, or a letter slips from a drawer... and everything collapses."
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"I am indebted to the cat for a particular kind of honorable deceit, for a greater control over myself, for a characteristic aversion to brutal sounds, and for the need to keep silent for long periods of time."
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"It is wise to apply the oil of refined politeness to the mechanisms of friendship."
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"I am going away with him to an unknown country where I shall have no past and no name, and where I shall be born again with a new face and an untried heart."
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