Hints for Lovers | Page 7

modesty and frailty go hand in hand, there is no more delectable combination known to men; and Aphrodite has not the subtle charm of a Cynthia. Perhaps this is why such
A wondrous halo of romance hangs about the name of a Heloise, of a Marguerite, of a Marianna Alcoforado; of a Concetta of Afragola; of a Catalina; of Robert le Diable's Helena, of Isolde; of Lucia of Bologna, the enchantress of Ottaviano; of Francesca; of Guenevere; of the sweet seventeen-year old novice of Andouillets, Margarita, the fille who was "rosy as the morn"; of the Beguine who nursed Captain Shandy; of the fille de chamber who walked along the Quai de Conti with Yorick; of Ameilia Viviani, the inspirer of Shelly's most ecstatic lyric; of Dryden's masque-loving Lucretia. For, after all,
Is the star any the less starry to the rapt star-gazer when he finds it to be a tremulous planet?
Cynthia may have blushed in heaven; bit did the blush make her any less lovely to the Latmian?
Only in the clear and unclouded pool is the star undimmed embosomed.
* * *
They say a woman is capricious. But the consistency of woman's capriciousness is only exceeded by the capriciousness of man's consistency.
Man calls woman capricious simply because he is too stupid to comprehend the laws by which she is swayed. Woman does not call man capricious. --The inference is obvious.
* * *
To women the profoundest mysteries of the universe give place to two things: a lover, and a baby.--But perhaps these are the profoundest mysteries of the universe.
* * *
How many women there be who, deeming themselves fitted to be the consorts of kings, yet comport themselves dutifully as the wives of wastrels! And indeed,
Given beauty, cleverness, and grace, 44 there is no position to which a woman could not aspire; for
Being Woman, she is ex officio Queen.
* * *
Speak to a woman disparagingly of her sex,--she is up in arms.
Speak to her disparagingly of a member of her sex,--well, she will not be up in arms. The reason for her bellicosity in the former case is the fact that
A woman always interprets abstract disparagement of her sex personally. And she is perfectly right.
* * *
It is not only the woman who cannot be accounted quite as stainless as the stars that sometimes trade on their charms.
* * *
When a strong-souled woman wholly and unreservedly loves, her love will go to lengths passing the comprehension of man. For
Women prefer an despot to a dependent.
* * *
It is marvelous to what a pitch of demureness features by nature that the most coquettish can be set.
(A Man's features are often a clue to his character; a woman's rarely.) So it comes about that
The owner of a seraphic face is often owner of a temper satanic. Nevertheless,
Often enough a spice of diablerie in a woman at once enhances all her charms.
It is indeed fortunate for the men that so many women are unaware of the power of their charms.
* * *
A woman would much rather you lied to her concerning herself than that you told her something unpleasant to hear.
* * *
Some women seem to be envious of some men's familiarity with immorality.
* * *
It is by woman that a woman will be first suspected; and it is by a woman she will be last forgiven. The last thing a woman will ask you for is: your esteem. And yet
Cast a slur upon a woman's character and you are considered indiscreet. Cast a slur upon a woman's personal appearance, and you are considered culpable.
* * *
Fashion is a woman's sole law. And
The surest evidence of strong-mindedness in woman is to fly in the fact of fashion.
* * *
Ridicule is woman's keenest weapon; it is the poisoned arrow in her quiver. Well is it for the men that she never, or so rarely, has recourse to it.
* * *
A woman is quick to discern the quality of the admiration bestowed upon her.
* * *
No one, not even herself, knows what a woman will do next.--Doubtless this is trite. But it is true as trite. Yet men rarely find it out till late in life--and forget it as soon as found out.
* * *
A woman can say more in a sigh than a man can say in a sermon.
* * *
Nothing piques a woman so much as indifference to her favors. Indifference to her undiscovered passion she quite otherwise regards.
* * *
The woman knows the male heart probably better than does it itself. She knows above all things, that to hold that heart she must never wholly satisfy it. And many--and multiform--and marvelous--are the ruses by which she accomplishes that end. And yet,
Women there are who firmly believe that, were they to try, they could enthrall any man beyond possibility of extrication. And 48 so perhaps they