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

— Madame du Deffand

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Source and credibility

Wikiquote does not flag this quote as disputed or misattributed.

Source: letter to Voltaire, 1759
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

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)

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)

Vanity ruins more women than love.

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Topics

Philosophy

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)

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

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

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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.