“We cease loving ourselves if no one loves us.”

— Madame de Staël, Sophie, or The Secret Sentiments (1790), Act 2, sc. 8

About Madame de Staël

1766 – 1817

French-Swiss writer and salon hostess, author of "Corinne".

“To understand makes one very indulgent.”

“Love is the whole history of a woman's life; it is an episode in a man's.”

“The evil arising from mental improvement can be corrected only by a still further progress in that very improvement.”

“If music be the food of love, play on.”

“Give all to love; obey thy heart.”

“What is done out of love always takes place beyond good and evil.”

“The spiritualization of sensuality is called love.”

“There is not love of life without despair about life.”

“The opposite of an idealist is too often a man without love.”