The Count of Monte Cristo

by Alexandre Dumas

they only spoke in broken words, which are the tokens of a joy so extreme that they seem rather the expression of sorrow.

“We are always in a hurry to be happy, M. Danglars; for when we have suffered a long time, we have great difficulty in believing in good fortune.

You who are in power have only the means that money produces—we who are in expectation, have those which devotion prompts.”

There is a sort of consolation at the contemplation of the yawning abyss, at the bottom of which lie darkness and obscurity.

there are two distinct sorts of ideas, those that proceed from the head and those that emanate from the heart.

God wills it that man whom he has created, and in whose heart he has so profoundly rooted the love of life, should do all in his power to preserve that existence, which, however painful it may be, is yet always so dear.”

excessive grief is like a storm at sea, where the frail bark is tossed from the depths to the top of the wave.

Uncertainty is still hope.”