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Society being divided in strips like bamboo, the great business of a man is to ascend to the class superior to his own, and all the effort of this class is to prevent him from ascending.

— Stendhal Souvenirs d'égotisme (Memoirs of an Egotist) (1832)

La société étant divisée par bandes comme un bambou, la grande affaire d'un homme est de monter dans la classe supérieure à la sienne, et tout l'effort de cette classe est de l'empêcher de monter.

Original text (French)

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Notes from Wikiquote

Ch. 7

More quotes by Stendhal

I call "crystallization" that action of the mind that discovers fresh perfections in its beloved at every turn of events.

De L'Amour (On Love) (1822)

In love, unlike most other passions, the recollection of what you have had and lost is always better than what you can hope for in the future.

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When a man leaves his mistress, he runs the risk of being betrayed two or three times daily.

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One can acquire everything in solitude — except character.

De L'Amour (On Love) (1822)

Any man who talks about his love affairs thereby proves he is ignorant of love and is moved only by vanity.

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Attribution

Quote text and notes from Wikiquote: Stendhal (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Source quality and labels are our own summary of what Wikiquote records.