Skip to content

One is no more the master of his impressions than of his coughing or sneezing.

— Madame du Deffand A Thousand Flashes of French Wit, Wisdom, and Wickedness (1902)

Another quote →

Source and credibility

Wikiquote does not flag this quote as disputed or misattributed.

Source: p. 185
Work: A Thousand Flashes of French Wit, Wisdom, and Wickedness, 1902
Source quality: Precise citation Points to a specific work with a page, chapter, date or similar locator, so you can look it up.

More by Madame du Deffand

Women are too imaginative and sensitive to have much logic.

A Thousand Flashes of French Wit, Wisdom, and Wickedness (1902)

Old acquaintances are better than new friends.

A Thousand Flashes of French Wit, Wisdom, and Wickedness (1902)

All conditions and all circumstances seem equally unfortunate to me, from the angel to the oyster. The grievous thing is to be born.

Vanity ruins more women than love.

A Thousand Flashes of French Wit, Wisdom, and Wickedness (1902)

All Madame du Deffand quotes →

More quotes by Madame du Deffand

All truths are not to be uttered; still it is always good to hear them.

A Thousand Flashes of French Wit, Wisdom, and Wickedness (1902)

The distance is nothing; it is only the first step that costs.

Shallow men speak of the past, wise men of the present, and fools of the future.

A Thousand Flashes of French Wit, Wisdom, and Wickedness (1902)

Women are never stronger than when they arm themselves with their weakness.

A Thousand Flashes of French Wit, Wisdom, and Wickedness (1902)

We all drink at the spring of happiness in a fractured vase: when it reaches our lips, there is almost nothing left in it.

A Thousand Flashes of French Wit, Wisdom, and Wickedness (1902)

All Madame du Deffand quotes →

Attribution

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