James Wood, comp. Dictionary of Quotations. 1899. Talleyrand
C’est le commencement de la fin—It is the beginning of the end. On the Hundred Days. 1 Gratitude is a keen sense of favours to come. 2 I find nonsense singularly refreshing. 3 Ils n’ont rien appris, ni rien oublié—They have learned nothing and forgotten nothing. Of the Bourbons. 4 Love is a reality which is born in the fairy region of romance. 5 Love of glory can only create a great hero; contempt of it creates a great man. 6 Methods are the masters of masters. 7 Nothing succeeds like success. 8 Society is divisible into two classes: shearers and shorn. 9 Speech has been given to man to disguise his thought. 10 Surtout, messieurs, pas de zèle—Above all, gentlemen, no zeal. 11 The reputation of a man is like his shadow gigantic when it precedes him, and pigmy in its proportions when it follows. 12 Too much sensibility creates unhappiness; too much insensibility creates crime. 13 Vous ne jouez donc pas le whist, Monsieur? Hélas! quelle triste vieillesse vous vous préparez!—Not play at whist, sir? Alas! what a dreary old age you are preparing for yourself. 14
