50 The Count of Monte Cristo Quotes From the Literary Classic
These are some of the best The Count of Monte Cristo quotes.
If you think we missed one that should make the cut, let us know in the comment section below.
The Count of Monte Cristo, an inescapable literary classic, is an adventure novel written by French author Alexandre Dumas and completed in 1844.
It is one of the author’s more popular works, rivaled only by The Three Musketeers.
The book’s historical setting is a fundamental element of the story, which takes place in France, Italy, and islands in the Mediterranean.
It is set during the historical events of 1815–1839 and begins on the day that Napoleon left his first island of exile, Elba.
The meaning of the book features several themes, including those of hope, justice, vengeance, mercy, and forgiveness.
We can see these themes in many of these Count of Monte Cristo quotes.
Edmond Dantès, a nineteen-year-old Frenchman and first mate of the Pharon, is wrongfully imprisoned, without trial, in the Château d’If, an island fortress off Marseille.
With the help of fellow prisoner Abbé Faria, the pair deduce that his rivals Fernand Mondego, crewmate Danglars, and crooked magistrate De Villefort set him up for the crime of treason.
This event happens before Edmund can marry his fiancée Merćedes, and the trio’s motive is jealousy.
Keep reading to hear how Edmond escapes and plots to exact his revenge.
If you like this article, we suggest you explore our most popular quotes article, a list of short inspirational quotes for daily encouragement.
Look through our complete collection of inspirational quotes here.
Count of Monte Cristo quotes about happiness and love
1. I am not proud, but I am happy; and happiness blinds, I think, more than pride. ― Alexandre Dumas
2. We are always in a hurry to be happy…; for when we have suffered a long time, we have great difficulty in believing in good fortune. ― Alexandre Dumas
3. I don’t think man was meant to attain happiness so easily. Happiness is like those palaces in fairy tales whose gates are guarded by dragons: we must fight in order to conquer it. ― Alexandre Dumas
4. Often, we pass beside happiness without seeing it, without looking at it, or even if we have seen and looked at it, without recognizing it. ― Alexandre Dumas
5. There is neither happiness nor unhappiness in this world; there is only the comparison of one state with another. ― Alexandre Dumas
6. Be happy, noble heart, be blessed for all the good thou hast done and wilt do hereafter, and let my gratitude remain in obscurity like your good deeds. ― Alexandre Dumas
7. He who has felt the deepest grief is best able to experience supreme happiness. ― Alexandre Dumas
8. What I’ve loved most after you is myself: that is, my dignity and that strength which made me superior to other men. That Strength was my life. You’ve broken it with a word, so I must die. ― Alexandre Dumas
9. Youth is a blossom whose fruit is love; happy is he who plucks it after watching it slowly ripen. ― Alexandre Dumas
10. It is the infirmity of our nature always to believe ourselves much more unhappy than those who groan by our sides! ― Alexandre Dumas
A few short Count of Monte Cristo quotes
11. Haste is a poor counselor. ― Alexandre Dumas
12. I am hungry, feed me; I am bored, amuse me. ― Alexandre Dumas
13. The difference between treason and patriotism is only a matter of dates. ― Alexandre Dumas
14. Order is the key to all problems. ― Alexandre Dumas
15. If it is one’s lot to be cast among fools, one must learn foolishness. ― Alexandre Dumas
16. For all evils, there are two remedies―time and silence. ― Alexandre Dumas
17. Return to the world still more brilliant because of your former sorrows. ― Alexandre Dumas
18. Remember that what has once been done may be done again. ― Alexandre Dumas
19. Woman is sacred; the woman one loves is holy. ― Alexandre Dumas
20. Ah, lips that say one thing, while the heart thinks another. ― Alexandre Dumas
Count of Monte Cristo quotes on life
21. When you compare the sorrows of real life to the pleasures of the imaginary one, you will never want to live again, only to dream forever. ― Alexandre Dumas
22. Now I’d like someone to tell me there is no drama in real life! ― Alexandre Dumas
23. Life is a storm. One minute you will bathe under the sun, and the next, you will be shattered upon the rocks. ― Alexandre Dumas
24. Your life story is a novel, and people, though they love novels wound between two yellow paper covers, are oddly suspicious of those which come to them in living vellum. ― Alexandre Dumas
25. Live, for a day will come when you will be happy and bless life. ― Alexandre Dumas
26. It’s necessary to have wished for death in order to know how good it is to live. ― Alexandre Dumas
27. Those born to wealth and who have the means of gratifying every wish know not what is the real happiness of life, just as those who have been tossed on the stormy waters of the ocean on a few frail planks can alone realize the blessings of fair weather. ― Alexandre Dumas
28. Life is a storm, my young friend. You will bask in the sunlight one moment, be shattered on the rocks the next. ― Alexandre Dumas
29. In reality, when you have once devoted your life to your enterprises, you are no longer the equal of other men, or, rather, other men are no longer your equals, and whosoever has taken this resolution, feels his strength and resources doubled. ― Alexandre Dumas
Lessons and inspiration from these Count of Monte Cristo quotes
30. And now…farewell to kindness, humanity and gratitude. I have substituted myself for Providence in rewarding the good; may the God of vengeance now yield me His place to punish the wicked. ― Alexandre Dumas
31. What makes you a man is what you do when that storm comes. You must look into that storm and shout as you did in Rome. Do your worst, for I will do mine! Then the fates will know you as we know you. ― Alexandre Dumas
32. You who are in power have only the means that money produces — we who are in expectation have those which devotion prompts. ― Alexandre Dumas
33. How did I escape? With difficulty. How did I plan this moment? With pleasure. ― Alexandre Dumas
34. If you wish to discover the guilty person, first find out to whom the crime might be useful. ― Alexandre Dumas,
35. It is not the tree that forsakes the flower, but the flower that forsakes the tree. ― Alexandre Dumas
36. God is merciful to all, as he has been to you; he is first a father, then a judge. ― Alexandre Dumas
37. Hatred is blind; rage carries you away, and he who pours out vengeance runs the risk of tasting a bitter draught. ― Alexandre Dumas
38. What I have always wished for, desired, and coveted is the life of an artist, free and independent, relying only on my own resources, and accountable only to myself. ― Alexandre Dumas
39. Yes, and remember that two-legged tigers and crocodiles are more dangerous than the others. ― Alexandre Dumas
Count of Monte Cristo quotes about the mind and soul
40. To learn is not to know; there are the learners and the learned. Memory makes the one―philosophy the others. ― Alexandre Dumas
41. All human wisdom is contained in these two words–“Wait and Hope.” ― Alexandre Dumas
42. I have always had more dread of a pen, a bottle of ink, and a sheet of paper than of a sword or pistol. ― Alexandre Dumas
43. It is the way of weakened minds to see everything through a black cloud. The soul forms its own horizons; your soul is darkened, and consequently, the sky of the future appears stormy and unpromising. ― Alexandre Dumas
44. A weakened mind always sees everything through a black veil. The soul makes its own horizons; your soul is dark, which is why you see such a cloudy sky. ― Alexandre Dumas
45. For there are two distinct sorts of ideas, those that proceed from the head and those that emanate from the heart. ― Alexandre Dumas
46. There are two ways of seeing: with the body and with the soul. The body’s sight can sometimes forget, but the soul remembers forever. ― Alexandre Dumas
47. So much the worse for those who fear wine, for it is because they have some bad thoughts which they are afraid the liquor will extract from their hearts. ― Alexandre Dumas
48. Philosophy cannot be taught; it is the application of the sciences to truth. ― Alexandre Dumas
49. Ah, said the jailer, do not always brood over what is impossible, or you will be mad in a fortnight. ― Alexandre Dumas
50. That is a dream also; only he has remained asleep while you have awakened, and who knows which of you is the most fortunate? ― Alexandre Dumas
Possible spoiler alert
Edmund and Abbé devise an elaborate escape plan and spend years digging a tunnel to freedom.
However, they do not make it to freedom together as Abbé dies before they can escape.
With his last breath, he tells Edmond of a secret treasure hidden on the island of Monte Cristo.
Edmond frees himself using a knife made from a sharpened crucifix.
He also learns that his father has died of grief over his son’s absence and that Merćedes has married Fernand Mondego.
With his newfound fortune, and the identity of the mysterious Count of Monte Cristo, Edmund begins to systematically exact revenge on those who falsely imprisoned him and stole his life.
The story is fraught with intrigue, daring rescues, plot twists, and drama.
It is a great read, but if you would rather, you can watch the 2002 film adaptation on Apple TV and Vudu.
It is sadly not available on American Netflix.
The film stars Jim Caviezel as Edmund Dantès.
Let us know which are your favorite Count of Monte Cristo quotes from the movie in the comment section below.
