Here are the 39 best handpicked quotes from “The Three Musketeers” by Alexander Dumas:
From “All falsehood is a mask; and however well made the mask may be, with a little attention we may always succeed in distinguishing it from the true face.” to “Never trust the enemy that gives you presents.”
So if you want the best quotes from “The Three Musketeers,” then you’re in the right place.
Let’s get to it!
My Favorite “The Three Musketeers” Quote
#1
“All falsehood is a mask; and however well made the mask may be, with a little attention we may always succeed in distinguishing it from the true face.”
— The Three Musketeers
I chose this as my favorite quote because it shows that no matter how hard we try to conceal falsehood, one can always spot them just by carefully observing or looking into things more closely.
This reflects on the thought that no falsehood can forever be hidden but in order for us to distinguish what’s real from not, we also have to practice discernment and to trust our instincts whenever we interact with unfamiliar people or situations.
Best Handpicked “The Three Musketeers” by Alexander Dumas
#2
“I do not often laugh, sir, as you may perceive by the air of my countenance; but nevertheless, I retain the privilege of laughing when I please.”
— The Three Musketeers
#3
“My son, be worthy of your noble name, worthily borne by your ancestors for over five hundred years. Remember it’s by courage, and courage alone, that a nobleman makes his way nowadays. Don’t be afraid of opportunities, and seek out adventures. My son, all I have to give you is fifteen ecus, my horse, and the advice you’ve just heard. Make the most of these gifts, and have a long, happy life.”
— The Three Musketeers
#4
“Time, dear friend, time brings round opportunity; opportunity is the martingale of man. The more we have ventured the more we gain, when we know how to wait.”
— The Three Musketeers
#5
“People in general,” he said, “only ask advice not to follow it; or if they do follow it, it is for the sake of having someone to blame for having given it.”
— The Three Musketeers
#6
“In all times, and all countries especially in those countries which are divided within by religious faith, there are always fanatics who will be well contented to be regarded as martyrs.”
— The Three Musketeers
#7
“I came to Paris with four écus in my pocket, and I’d have fought with anybody who told me I was in no condition to buy the Louvre.”
— The Three Musketeers
#8
“I have lost my friends,” D’Artagnan said ruefully, burying his head in his hands. “I have nothing left but the bitterest of recollections…” Two large tears rolled down his cheeks. “You are young,” Athos answered. “Your bitter recollections have the time requisite to change into the happiest of memories.”
— The Three Musketeers
#9
“Life is a chaplet of little miseries which the philosopher counts with a smile. Be philosophers, as I am, gentlemen; sit down at the table and let us drink. Nothing makes the future look so bright as surveying it through a glass of chambertin.”
— The Three Musketeers
#10
“It was like the eve of a battle; the hearts beat, the eyes laughed, and they felft that the life they were perhaps going to lose, was after all, a good thing.”
— The Three Musketeers
#11
“There are people who laugh at a horse that would not dare to laugh at the master of it.”
— The Three Musketeers
#12
“Good fortune is the best of all mistresses.”
— The Three Musketeers
#13
“What fragile and unknown threads the destinies of nations and the lives of men are suspended.”
— The Three Musketeers
#14
“Kitty: I thought your ladyship was ill. I wanted to help you.
Lady deWinter:I ill? Do you take me for a weak woman? When I am insulted I do not feel ill— I avenge myself. Do you hear?”
#15
“D’Artagnan, my friend, thou art brave, thou art prudent, thou hast excellent qualities, but- women will destroy thee!”
— The Three Musketeers
#16
“It was one of those rare and beautiful days in winter when England remembers that there is a sun. The star of the day, pale but nevertheless still splendid, was setting in the horizon, glorifying at one the heavens and the sea with bands of fire, and casting upon the tower and the old houses of the city a last ray of gold which made the windows sparkle like the reflection of a conflagration.”
— The Three Musketeers
#17
“Men who swear undying love sometimes have the worst intentions in the world.”
— The Three Musketeers
#18
“But that’s not the name of a man, it’s the name of a mountain!”
“It is my name,” Athos said calmly.
“But you said your name was d’Artagnan.”
“I?”
“Yes, you.”
“That is to say, someone said to me: ‘You are M. d’Artagnan?’ I replied: ‘You think so?’ My guards shouted that they were sure of it. I did not want to vex them. Besides, I might have been mistaken.”
— The Three Musketeers
#19
“Capricious and unfaithful, the king wished to be called Louis the Just and Louis the Chaste. Posterity will find a difficulty in understanding this character, which history explains only by facts and never by reason.”
— The Three Musketeers
#20
“The hungry men were seen, followed by their valets, roaming the quais and guards’ quarters; gleaning from their outside friends all the dinners they could find; for, according to Aramis, in prosperity one should sow meals right and left, in order to harvest some in adversity.”
— The Three Musketeers
#21
“Everyone knows that God protects drunkards and lovers.”
— The Three Musketeers
#22
“Porthos: He thinks he can challenge the mighty Porthos with a sword…
D’Artagnan: The mighty who?
Porthos: Don’t tell me you’ve never heard of me.
D’Artagnan: The world’s biggest windbag?
Porthos: Little pimple… meet me behind the Luxembourg at 1 o’clock and bring a long wooden box.
D’Artagnan: Bring your own…
Porthos: [laughs].”
— The Three Musketeers
#23
“We must never expect discretion in first love: it is accompanied by such excessive joy that unless the joy is allowed to overflow, it will choke you.”
— The Three Musketeers
#24
“Within six months, if I am not dead, I shall have seen you again, madam–even if I have to overturn the world.”
— The Three Musketeers
#25
“Besides we are men, and after all it is our business to risk our lives.”
— The Three Musketeers
#26
“I’m sure you’re very nice, but you’d be even nicer if you went away.”
— The Three Musketeers
#27
“Nothing makes time pass or shortens the way like a thought that absorbs in itself all the faculties of the one who is thinking. External existence is then like a sleep of which this thought is the dream. Under its influence, time has no more measure, space has no more distance.”
— The Three Musketeers
#28
“There is no friendship that cares about an overheard secret.”
— The Three Musketeers
#29
“Athos liked every one to exercise his own free-will. He never gave his advice before it was demanded and even then it must be demanded twice. ‘In general, people only ask for advice,” he said “that they may not follow it or if they should follow it that they may have somebody to blame for having given it.'”
— The Three Musketeers
#30
“Our late adventures have disgusted me with life and with the sword.”
— The Three Musketeers
#31
“A rogue does not laugh in the same way that an honest man does; a hypocrite does not shed the tears of a man of good faith.”
— The Three Musketeers
#32
“The merit of all things lies in their difficulty.”
— The Three Musketeers
#33
“Love is the most selfish of all the passions.”
— The Three Musketeers
#34
“You are very amiable, no doubt, but you would be charming if you would only depart.”
— The Three Musketeers
#35
“All for one and one for all, united we stand divided we fall.”
— The Three Musketeers
#36
“Fight on all occasions; fight the more for duels being forbidden, since, consequently, there is twice as much courage in fighting.”
— The Three Musketeers
#37
“He answered that he was a musketeer at heart, entirely devoted to your majesty, and that he would therefore remain with messieurs the musketeers.”
— The Three Musketeers
#38
“You ought to be brave for two reasons- the first is that you are a Gascon, and the second is that you are my son. Never fear quarrels, but seek hazardous adventures.”
— The Three Musketeers
#39
“Never trust the enemy that gives you presents.”
— The Three Musketeers