Honore de Balzac Quotes
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The more you judge, the less you love.
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God is the author, men are only the players. These grand pieces which are played upon earth have been composed in heaven.
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Modesty is the conscience of the body.
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In France everything is a matter for jest. People make quips about the scaffold, about Napoleon's defeat on the banks of The Beresina, and about the barricades of our revolutions. So, at the assizes of the Last Judgment, there will always be a Frenchmen to crack a joke.
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Envy lurks at the bottom of the human heart like a viper in its hole.
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The victory always has a lot of parents but the defeat is always an orphan.
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The greatest joy a petty soul can taste is to dupe a great soul and catch it in a snare.
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Passion is born deaf and dumb.
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Too great a display of delicacy can and does sometimes infringe upon de-cency.
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To man, faith; to woman, doubt. She bears the heavier burden. Does not woman invariably suffer for two?
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Your modest savant smiles as he says to his admirers: What have I done? Nothing. Man does not invent a force, he directs it.
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Self-love is as protective as the Deity; Disenchantment is as perspicacious as a surgeon; Experience is as provident as a mother. Such are the theologic virtues of marriage.
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If certain women walk straight into adultery, there are many others who cling to numerous hopes, and commit sin only after wandering through a maze of sorrows.
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To be happy, a man must love his wife as she chooses to be loved.
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Science is the language of the temporal world; love is that of the spiritual world. Man, indeed, describes more than he explains; while the angelic spirit sees and understands. Science saddens man; love enraptures the angel; science is still seeking; love has found.
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But also remember: if you have any genuine feelings, hide them like treasure; never let anyone so much as suspect them, or you're lost. Instead of being the executioner, you'll be the victim. And if you ever fall in love, keep that absolutely secret! Never breathe a word until you're completely sure of the person to whom you open your heart. And to protect that love, even before you feel it, learn to despise the world.
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Sects differ more in name than tenets.
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It is quite right what they say: the three most beautiful sights in the world are a ship in full sail, a galloping horse, and a woman dancing.
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Bureaucracy is a giant mechanism operated by pygmies.
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Some day you will find out that there is far more happiness in another's happiness than in your own.
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There are some women whose pregnancy would make some sly bachelor smile.
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The monotony of provincial life attracts the attention of people to the kitchen. You do not dine as luxuriously in the provinces as in Paris, but you dine better, because the dishes serve you are the result of mediation and study.
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It is easy to sit up and take notice, What is difficult is getting up and taking action.
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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.