“In Russia, whatever be the appearance of things, violence and arbitrary rule is at the bottom of them all. Tyranny rendered calm by the influence of terror is the only kind of happiness which this government is able to afford its people.” PeopleKindGovernmentAbleViolenceInfluenceBottomCalmTerrorAppearanceRussiaTyrannyArbitrary Author:Marquis de Custine
“Grace is always natural, though that does not prevent its being often used to hide a lie. The rude shocks and uncomfortably constraining influences of life disappear among graceful women and poetical men; they are the most deceptive beings in creation; distrust and doubt cannot stand before them; they create what they imagine; if they do not lie to others, they do to their own hearts; for illusion is their element, fiction their vocation, and pleasures in appearance their happiness. Beware of grace in woman, and poetry in man -- weapons the more dangerous because the least dreaded!” IfsMenHeartDoeUsedLyingNaturalPleasureFictionDoubtGraceImagineInfluenceDangerousCreationElementsWeaponsIllusionAppearanceDisappearShockRudeDistrustVocationDeceptive Author:Marquis de Custine