Colette

"A happy childhood is poor preparation for human contacts. "

"I love my past. I love my present. I'm not ashamed of what I've had, and I'm not sad because I have it no longer. "

"It is wise to apply the oil of refined politeness to the mechanisms of friendship. "

"The true traveler is he who goes on foot, and even then, he sits down a lot of the time. "

"There are days when solitude, for someone my age, is a heady wine that intoxicates you with freedom, others when it is a bitter tonic, and still others when it is a poison that makes you beat your head against the wall. "

"Total absence of humor renders life impossible. "

"We only do well the things we like doing. "

"You will do foolish things, but do them with enthusiasm. "