The Count of Monte Cristo (Unabridged)

it is impossible, in some situations, to reason with the heart of a parent

Joy may sometimes produce strange effects and be as oppressive as sorrow.

‘need’ and ‘necessity’ are synonyms, but there is a world of difference between them.

Woman is sacred, the woman one loves is holy.

Monte Cristo put a hand to his forehead. What was going on inside that head, so heavy with its terrible secrets? What were the angel of light and the angel of darkness saying to that mind, at once implacable and humane? Only God knew.

‘Woman is often fickle, said François I; and woman is like the waves, said Shakespeare.3 One was a great king, the other a great poet, so they must have known women.’
‘Yes, women. But my mother is not “women”, she is a woman.’

prisons have doors, the tomb has none.

Today’s friends are tomorrow’s enemies.

There are two ways of seeing: with the body and with the soul. The body’s sight can sometimes forget, but the soul remembers for ever.

Jealousy implies affection.