Honoré de Balzac Quotes

Les gens sans esprit ressemblent aux mauvaises herbes qui se plaisent dans les bons terrains, et ils aiment d'autant plus être amusés qu'ils s'ennuient eux-mêmes.

La gloire est le soleil des morts.

Je préfère la pensée à l'action, une idée à une affaire, la contemplation au mouvement.

one can no more hinder criticism than the use of eyes, tongues, and judgment.

Yes, I can understand that a man might go to gambling table - when he sees that all that lies between himself and death is his last crown

The Oratorian boarding school in Vendôme, which Balzac was sent to at a young age. It was a gruelling and miserable place to live, with severe monastic rules.

It is easier to be a lover than a husband, for the same reason that it is more difficult to be witty every day, than to say bright things from time to time.

Un jeune homme est au crime ce qu'une pièce de cent sous est au X.

The passion, observe, which is able to reflect, gives even to ninnies, fools, and imbeciles a species of intelligence, especially in youth.

Ah! how much a mother learns from her child! The constant protection of a helpless being forces us to so strict an alliance with virtue, that a woman never shows to full advantage except as a mother. Then alone can her character expand in the fulfillment of all life’s duties and the enjoyment of all its pleasures.

To saunter is a science; it is the gastronomy of the eye. To take a walk is to vegetate; to saunter is to live… To saunter is to enjoy life; it is to indulge the flight of fancy; it is to enjoy the sublime pictures of misery, of love, of joy, of gracious or grotesque physiognomies; it is to pierce with a glance the abysses of a thousand existences; for the young it is to desire all, and to possess all; for the old it is to live the life of the youthful, and to share their passions.

L’amour est le plus joli larcin que la Société ait su faire à la Nature ; mais la maternité, n’est-ce pas la Nature dans sa joie ? Un sourire a séché mes larmes.

"Croyez-le, le véritable amour est éternel, infini, toujours semblable à lui-même ; il est égal et pur, sans démonstrations violentes ; il se voit en cheveux blancs, toujours jeune de cœur.”

“True love is eternal, infinite, and always like itself. It is equal and pure, without violent demonstrations: it is seen with white hairs and is always young in the heart."
(Always from Kindle Alexander)

Women always persuade men they have made into sheep that they are lions with a will of iron.

A young bride is like a plucked flower; but a guilty wife is like a flower that had been walked over.