The Countess

Beauty was a curse to be borne, not a blessing.

I once laughed at the vanity of women of thirty or forty who whitened their ruddy old skin with lead, but now I know such salves are not disguises for old crones who wish to catch a young husband. Instead they are only a mask we wear so that we can, for a little while, still recognize ourselves.

Even if God forgives you, you do not forgive yourself. You live in your sorrow like a room of mirrors that reflects on and on to eternity.

Zsofía Forgách had died in the spring, and since then I had noticed a change in him, a subtle shift from merriment to contemplation, from engaging in the games the men played to an almost womanish need to stand back and watch with an appraising eye, as if his companions were people he had never seen before and did not know how to place

For man, when perfected, is the best of animals, but when separated from law and justice he is the worst of all; since armed injustice is the more dangerous, and he is equipped at birth with arms meant to be used by intelligence and virtue, which he may use for the worst ends.

Omul, atunci can e desavarsit, este cel mai bun dintre fiinte, dar atunci cand e lipsit de lege si dreptate, devine cel mai rau dintre toate, caci nedreptatea care dispune de arme este cea mai primejdioasa; iar omul este inzestrat la nastere cu arme menite a fi fosite cu inteligenta si virtute, dar pe care el le poate pune in slujba scopurilor celor mai rele.

[...] Devi imparare a controllare meglio le tue passioni, tesoro mio, e a custodire gli affanni nel segreto del tuo cuore.