A first impulse was never a crime.
Pierre Corneille

A good memory is needed after one has lied.
Pierre Corneille

A liar is always lavish of oaths.
Pierre Corneille

A true king is neither husband nor father; he considers his throne and nothing else.
Pierre Corneille

A Victory without danger is a triumph without glory.
Pierre Corneille

After having won a scepter, few are so generous as to disdain the pleasures of ruling.
Pierre Corneille

Alas, I emerge from one disaster to fall into a worse.
Pierre Corneille

Ambition aspires to descend.
Pierre Corneille

An example is often a deceptive mirror, and the order of destiny, so troubling to our thoughts, is not always found written in things past.
Pierre Corneille

As great as kings may be, they are what we are: they can err like other men.
Pierre Corneille


Brave men are brave from the very first.
Pierre Corneille

Clemency is the noblest trait which can reveal a true monarch to the world.
Pierre Corneille

Danger breeds best on too much confidence.
Pierre Corneille

Deceit is the game of petty spirits, and that is by nature a woman's quality.
Pierre Corneille

Desire increases when fulfillment is postponed.
Pierre Corneille

Do your duty and leave the rest to heaven.
Pierre Corneille

Each instant of life is a step toward death.
Pierre Corneille

Every man of courage is a man of his word.
Pierre Corneille

Flee an enemy who knows your weakness.
Pierre Corneille

Force is legitimate where gentleness avails not.
Pierre Corneille