Marie Anne de Vichy-Chamrond, marquise du Deffand (1697 – 23 September 1780) was a French hostess and patron of the arts.
. . . everything seems insupportable to me. This may very well be because I am insupportable myself.
God is not more incomprehensible than you; but if he is not more just, it is hardly worth while beIieving in him.
I hear nothings, I speak nothings, I take interest in nothing and from nothing to nothing I travel gently down the dull way which leads to becoming nothing.
Rules of society are nothing; one's conscience is the umpire.
Faith is a devout belief in what one does not understand.
Ah! I shall repeat it endlessly, the only misfortune is to be born!
The first step is the hardest.
[On the legend that after being beheaded St. Denis walked six miles with his head in his hands:] It is only the first step that is difficult.
Heed the still small voice that so seldom leads us wrong, and never into folly.
Impromptu thoughts are mental wild-flowers.
I love nothing and that is the true cause of my ennui.
Do I believe in ghosts? No, but I'm afraid of them.
Let us strive to improve ourselves, for we cannot remain stationary; one either progresses or retrogrades.