“The more I see of the representatives of the people, the more I admire my dogs.”

Original: Plus je vois les représentants du peuple, plus j'admire mes chiens. — A wry, private jab at political assemblies that prefers the loyalty of animals to the conduct of deputies. · Reported in a letter of Count d'Orsay to John Forster, 1850 (French, as commonly transmitted)

• Animals
• Irony
• Politics

“History teaches everything, even the future.”

Original: L'histoire apprend tout, même l'avenir. — Pairs with his remark on experience as prophecy, treating the past as a reliable teacher of what lies ahead. · Speech at Mâcon, 1847 (commonly attributed; French)

• Future
• History
• Wisdom

“My God! I have often regretted that I was born! I have often wished to fall back even into nothingness, rather than advance through so many falsehoods, so many sufferings, and so many successive losses, towards that loss of ourselves which we call death!”

Original: Mon Dieu! J'ai souvent regretté d'être né! J'ai souvent souhaité retomber même dans le néant, plutôt que d'avancer à travers tant de mensonges, tant de souffrances et tant de pertes successives, vers cette perte de nous-mêmes que nous appelons la mort! — An honest cry of existential weariness that still affirms the value of family bonds and simple affections. · Les Confidences, 1849 (French)

• Death
• Family
• Suffering