A lover without indiscretion is no lover at all. Circumspection and devotion are a contradiction in terms.
A lover, when he is admitted to cards, ought to be solemnly silent, and observe the motions of his mistress. He must laugh when she laughs, sigh when she sighs. In short, he should be the shadow of her mind. A lady, in the presence of her lover, should never want a looking-glass; as a beau, in the presence of his looking-glass, never wants a mistress.
A man can go from being a lover to being a stranger in three moves flat but a woman under the guise of friendship will engage in acts of duplicity which come to light very much later. There are different species of self-justification.
Age cannot wither her, nor custom stale her infinite variety. Other women cloy the appetites they feed, but she makes hungry where most she satisfies.
An orange on the table, your dress on the rug, and you in my bed, sweet present of the present, cool of night, warmth of my life.
Between lovers a little confession is a dangerous thing.
Busy old fool, unruly Sun, why dost thou thus through windows and through curtains call on us? Must to thy motions lovers seasons run?
Every man needs two women, a quiet home-maker, and a thrilling nymph.
I would not miss your face, your neck, your hands, your limbs, your bosom and certain other of your charms. Indeed, not to become boring by naming them all, I could do without you, Chloe, altogether.
In every loving woman there is a priestess of the past — a pious guardian of some affection, of which the object has disappeared.
It is easier to keep half a dozen lovers guessing than to keep one lover after he has stopped guessing.
Lovers may be — and indeed generally are — enemies, but they never can be friends, because there must always be a spice of jealousy and a something of Self in all their speculations.
Lovers should also have their days off.
Lovers who love truly do not write down their happiness.
Mistresses are like books; if you pore upon them too much, they doze you and make you unfit for company; but if used discreetly, you are the fitter for conversation by em.
My God, these folks don't know how to love — that's why they love so easily.
Never the time and the place and the loved one all together!
No one worth possessing can be quite possessed.
One can be a soldier without dying, and a lover without sighing.
One seeks to make the loved one entirely happy, or, if that cannot be, entirely wretched.