Honor� de Balzac
France
20 May 1799 // 18 Aug 1850
Writer
20 May 1799 // 18 Aug 1850
Writer
Quotes
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Our souls possess the unknown power of extending as well as contracting space
Our most natural feelings are those we are loath to confess, and fatuity is among them
Our energies are often stimulated by the necessity of supporting a being weaker than ourselves
One of the glories of society is to have created woman where Nature had made only a female; to have created a continuity of desire where Nature thought only of perpetuating the species; and, in fine, to have invented love
On the moral plane, true friends enjoy the same protection as the sense of smell confers upon dogs. They scent the sorrow of their friends, they divine its causes, and they clasp it to their minds and hearts
Old men are prone to invest the futures of young men with their own past sorrows
Of all emotions, pity is the hardest to endure, especially when it is deserved. Hatred is a tonic, it quickens the spirit, it inspires vengeance; but pity kills the spirit, it intensifies our weaknesses, it cripples us
Nothing is unimportant to a man plunged in despair. He is as credulous as a criminal sentenced to death who listens to a lunatic raving to him about how he can escape through the keyhole
Nothing can afford a woman greater pleasure than to hear tender words of love. The strictest, most devout woman will listen even if she must not answer
Noble hearts are neither jealous nor afraid because jealousy spells doubt and fear spells pettiness
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On Anger: "For every minute you remain angry, you give up sixty seconds of peace of mind."
Essays
Essays
On Destiny: "Our destiny exercises its influence over us even when, as yet, we have not learned its nature: it is our future that lays down the law of our today."
Human, All Too Human
Human, All Too Human
On Friendship: "A crowd is not company; and faces are but a gallery of pictures; and talk but a tinkling cymbal, where there is no love."
Essays
Essays