A man needs a little madness, or else... he never dares cut the rope and be free.

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Happy is the man, I thought, who, before dying, has the good fortune to sail the Aegean sea.

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Life is trouble. Only death is not. To be alive is to undo your belt and *look* for trouble.

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For I realize today that it is a mortal sin to violate the great laws of nature. We should not hurry, we should not be impatient, but we should confidently obey the eternal rhythm.

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I felt once more how simple and frugal a thing is happiness: a glass of wine, a roast chestnut, a wretched little brazier, the sound of the sea. Nothing else.

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The only thing I know is this: I am full of wounds and still standing on my feet.

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If a woman sleeps alone it puts a shame on all men. God has a very big heart, but there is one sin He will not forgive. If a woman calls a man to her bed and he will not go.

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You have your brush, you have your colors, you paint the paradise, then in you go.

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I was happy, I knew that. While experiencing happiness, we have difficulty in being conscious of it. Only when the happiness is past and we look back on it do we suddenly realize - sometimes with astonishment - how happy we had been.

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I said to the almond tree, 'Sister, speak to me of God.' And the almond tree blossomed.

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