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In our calling, we have to choose; we must make our fortune either in this world or in the next, there is no middle way.

— Stendhal Le Rouge et le Noir (The Red and the Black) (1830)

Dans notre état, il faut opter; il s'agit de faire fortune dans ce monde ou dans l'autre, il n'y a pas de milieu.

Original text (French)

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Notes from Wikiquote

Vol. I, ch. VIII

Topics

Luck

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.

De L'Amour (On Love) (1822)

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

Le Rouge et le Noir (The Red and the Black) (1830)

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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In the fields of observation chance favors only the prepared mind.

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Some are born great, some achieve greatness, and some have greatness thrust upon 'em.

William Shakespeare Twelfth Night (1601)

O Fortune, cruellest of heavenly powers,
Why make such game of this poor life of ours?

Horace Satires (-35)

Vicissitudes of fortune, which spares neither man nor the proudest of his works, which buries empires and cities in a common grave.

Edward Gibbon The History of the Decline And Fall Of The Roman Empire (1776)

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.