Sidonie Gabrielle Claudine Colette

Those pleasures so lightly called physical.

A bestial and violent man will go so far as to kill because he is under the influence of drink, exasperated, or driven by rage and alcohol. He is paltry. He does not know the pleasure of killing, the charity of bestowing death like a caress, of linking it with the play of the noble wild beasts: every cat, every tiger, embraces its prey and licks it even while it destroys it.

No temptation can ever be measured by the value of its object.

Whether you are dealing with an animal or a child, to convince is to weaken.

On this narrow planet, we have only the choice between two unknown worlds. One of them tempts us - ah! what a dream, to live in that! - the other stifles us at the first breath.

What a wonderful life I've had! I only wish I'd realized it sooner.

It is wise to apply the oil of refined politeness to the mechanism of friendship.

If I can't have too many truffles, I'll do without truffles.

Writing only leads to more writing.

Researchers, with science as their authority, will be able to cut animals up, alive, into small pieces, drop them from a great height to see if they are shattered by the fall, or deprive them of sleep for sixteen days and nights continuously for the purposes of an iniquitous monograph. . . . Animal trust, undeserved faith, when at last will you turn away from us? Shall we never tire of deceiving, betraying, tormenting animals before they cease to trust us?