Honoré de Balzac (born May 20, 1799, in Tours, France – died August 18, 1850, in Paris, France) was a French novelist and playwright recognized as one of the founders of realism in European literature.
Balzac helped establish the traditional form of the novel and was one of the first writers who used fiction to present the social scene in one country’s history.
His most extensive work consists of roughly ninety finished works, collectively called La Comédie humaine (The Human Comedy). Some of the most notable novels are The Wild Ass’s Skin (1831), Eugénie Grandet (1833), The Country Doctor (1833), Père Goriot (1835), and A Harlot High and Low (1838-1847).
Balzac’s writing influenced many writers and philosophers of his time and after, including Gustave Flaubert, Émile Zola, Marcel Proust, Charles Dickens, Friedrich Engels, and Henry James.
If love is the first of passions, it is because it flatters all the rest of them at the same time.The Physiology of Marriage (1829), (Dana Estes & Co., ed. 1901), Part I, Meditation III, Page 37
And diving deep into the sea of pleasures he brought back more grit than pearls.The Girl With the Golden Eyes (1835), (Illustrated Editions Co., ed. 1931), Page 75
Courtesy is only a thin veneer on the general selfishness.Letters of Two Brides (1842), (Gebbie Publishing Co., ed. 1898), Part I, Chapter VII, Page 179
To speak of love is to make love.The Physiology of Marriage (1829), (Dana Estes & Co., ed. 1901), Part II, Meditation XIX, Aphorism LXV, Page 203
People exaggerate both happiness and unhappiness; we are never so fortunate nor so unfortunate as people say we are.Modeste Mignon (1844), (Roberts Brothers, ed. 1888), Chapter XXIV, Page 296
Love has its own instinct, finding the way to the heart, as the feeblest insect finds the way to its flower, with a will which nothing can dismay nor turn aside.A Woman of Thirty (1842), (Gebbie Publishing Co, ed. 1898), Chapter III, Page 116
Marriage must incessantly contend with a monster which devours everything, that is, familiarity.The Physiology of Marriage (1829), (Dana Estes & Co., ed. 1901), Part I, Meditation V, Aphorism XLVII, Page 64
All human power is a compound of time and patience.Eugénie Grandet (1833), (Little, Brown, & Co., ed. 1896), Chapter VI, Page 133
Our most cruel enemies are our nearest in blood! Kings have neither brothers, nor sons, nor mothers.Catherine de' Medici (1841), (Roberts Brothers, ed. 1894), Part II, Chapter V, Page 392
Laws are like spiders’ webs; the big flies get through, while the little ones are caught.The Firm of Nucingen (1838), (Avil Publishing Co., ed. 1901), Page 359
All poetry, like every work of art, proceeds from a swift vision of things.Louis Lambert (1832), (Macmillan & Co., ed. 1897), Page 189
They who listen to only one bell hear only one sound.Pierrette (1840), (Roberts Brothers, ed. 1892), Chapter IX, Page 202
Our heart is a treasury; if you pour out all its wealth at once, you are bankrupt.Père Goriot (1835), (Avil Publishing Co., ed. 1901), Page 78
Feeble folk are as easily reassured as they are frightened.The Vicar of Tours (1832), (Roberts Brothers, ed. 1892), Chapter III, Page 294
The more a man judges the less he loves.
(Also known as: The more one judges, the less one loves.)The Physiology of Marriage (1829), (Dana Estes & Co., ed. 1901), Part I, Meditation VIII, Aphorism LX, Page 98
The man as he converses is the lover; silent, he is the husband.Letters of Two Brides (1842), (Gebbie Publishing Co., ed. 1898), Part I, Chapter VII, Page 179
Mankind are not perfect, but one age is more or less hypocritical than another, and then simpletons say that its morality is high or low.Père Goriot (1835), (Avil Publishing Co., ed. 1901), Page 109
Though the great things of life are simple to understand and easy to express, the littlenesses require a vast number of details to explain them.The Vicar of Tours (1832), (Roberts Brothers, ed. 1892), Chapter I, Page 260
A lover always starts from his mistress to himself; with a husband the contrary is the case.The Physiology of Marriage (1829), (Dana Estes & Co., ed. 1901), Part II, Meditation XIX, Aphorism LXXVII, Page 204
A society of atheists would immediately invent a religion.Un inédit de Balzac: Le catéchisme social (1933), Page 137
Nothing so fortifies a friendship as a belief on the part of one friend that he is superior to the other.Cousin Pons (1847), (Macmillan Co., ed. 1897), Page 21
The most natural feelings are those we are least willing to confess.Gambara (1837), (DeFau & Co., ed. 1901), Page 329
Love is the poetry of the senses.The Physiology of Marriage (1829), (Dana Estes & Co., ed. 1901), Part I, Meditation V, Page 61
When women love, they forgive everything, even our crimes; when they do not love, they cannot forgive anything – not even our virtues.The Muse of the Department (1843), (Gebbie Publishing Co., ed. 1899), Page 119
Those who spend too fast never grow rich.At the Sign of the Cat and Racket (1829), (Macmillan & Co., ed. 1895), Page 53
Society bristles with enigmas which look hard to solve. It is a perfect maze of intrigue.Letters of Two Brides (1842), (Gebbie Publishing Co., ed. 1898), Part I, Chapter IV, Page 163
To kill a relative of whom you are tired, is something; but to inherit his property afterwards – that is a real pleasure! Cousin Pons (1847), (Macmillan Co., ed. 1897), Page 193
Between two beings susceptible of love, the duration of passion is in proportion to the original resistance of the woman, or to the obstacles which the accidents of social life put in the way of your happiness.The Physiology of Marriage (1829), (Dana Estes & Co., ed. 1901), Part I, Meditation VII, Aphorism LVII, Page 87
Clouds signify the veil of the Most High.
(Also known as: Clouds symbolize the veils that shroud God.)Séraphîta (1834), (Little, Brown, and Co., ed. 1916), Chapter III, Page 78
Where poverty ceases, avarice begins.Lost Illusions (1837), (Gebbie Publishing Co., ed. 1898), Part I, Page 3
Wisdom is the understanding of celestial things to which the Spirit is brought by Love.Séraphîta (1834), (Little, Brown, and Co., ed. 1916), Chapter III, Page 75
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.The Physiology of Marriage (1829), (Dana Estes & Co., ed. 1901), Part I, Meditation V, Aphorism XLIX, Page 65
Children, dear and loving children, can alone console a woman for the loss of her beauty.Letters of Two Brides (1842), (Gebbie Publishing Co., ed. 1898), Page II, Chapter LII, Page 358
The man who can perpetually bring his thought to bear upon his facts is a man of genius; but the man of the highest genius does not display genius at all times; if he did, he would be like to God.A Daughter Of Eve (1838), (Roberts Brothers, ed. 1895), Chapter III, Page 30
Power is action, and the elective principle is discussion. There is no policy, no statesmanship possible where discussion is permanent.Catherine de' Medici (1841), (Roberts Brothers, ed. 1894), Introduction, Page 11
The most virtuous women have in them something which is never chaste.The Physiology of Marriagee (1829), (Dana Estes & Co., ed. 1901), Part I, Meditation IV, Aphorism XX, Page 46
Love may be or it may not, but where it is, it ought to reveal itself in its immensity.Letters of Two Brides (1842), (Gebbie Publishing Co., ed. 1898), Part I, Chapter XV, Page 220
If youth were not ignorant and timid, civilization would be impossible.Père Goriot (1835), (Avil Publishing Co., ed. 1901), Page 54
The fact is that love is of two kinds — one which commands, and one which obeys. The two are quite distinct, and the passion to which the one gives rise is not the passion of the other. Letters of Two Brides (1842), (Gebbie Publishing Co., ed. 1898), Part I. Chapter XXI, Page 243
The secret of a great success for which you are at a loss to account is a crime that has never been found out, because it was properly executed.
(Also known as: Behind every great fortune lies a great crime.)Père Goriot (1835), (Avil Publishing Co., ed. 1901), Page 115
Vanity is only to be satisfied by gold in floods.Gobseck (1830), (Gebbie Publishing Co., ed. 1898), Page 315
Chance, my dear, is the sovereign deity of maternity. Letters of Two Brides (1842), (Gebbie Publishing Co., ed. 1898), Part I, Chapter XXVIII, Page 274
Between the daylight gambler and the player at night there is the same difference that lies between a careless husband and the lover swooning under his lady’s window.The Magic Skin (1831), (Dana Estes & Co., ed. 1901), Chapter I, Page 3
Little minds need to practise despotism to relieve their nerves, just as great souls thirst for equality in friendship to exercise their hearts.Pierrette (1840), (Roberts Brothers, ed. 1892), Chapter IV, Page 88
Excess of joy is harder to bear than any amount of sorrow.Letters of Two Brides (1842), (Gebbie Publishing Co., ed. 1898), Part II, Page 345
Manners are the hypocrisy of nations, and hypocrisy is more or less perfect.The Physiology of Marriage (1829), (Dana Estes & Co., ed. 1901), Part I, Meditation IV, Aphorism XVI, Page 43
Women are tenacious, and all of them should be tenacious of respect; without esteem they cannot exist, esteem is the first demand that they make of love.A Woman of Thirty (1842), (Gebbie Publishing Co, ed. 1898), Chapter III, Page 109
A man ought not to marry without having studied anatomy, and dissected at least one woman.The Physiology of Marriage (1829), (Dana Estes & Co., ed. 1901), Part I, Meditation V, Aphorism XXVIII, Page 62
A flow of words is a sure sign of duplicity.Letters of Two Brides (1842), (Gebbie Publishing Co., ed. 1898), Part I, Chapter VI, Page 170
Conscience is our unerring judge until we finally stifle it.The Magic Skin (1831), (Dana Estes & Co., ed. 1901), Chapter II, Page 131
When law becomes despotic, morals are relaxed, and vice versa.The Magic Skin (1831), (Dana Estes & Co., ed. 1901), Chapter I, Page 48
If you have desired your object only for one day, your love perhaps will not last more than three nights.The Physiology of Marriage (1829), (Dana Estes & Co., ed. 1901), Part I, Meditation VII, Page 87
Man dies in despair while the Spirit dies in ecstasy.Séraphîta (1834), (Little, Brown, and Co., ed. 1916), Chapter III, Page 75
True love is eternal, infinite, always like unto itself; it is equable, pure, without violent demonstration; white hair often covers the head but the heart that holds it is ever young.The Lily of the Valley (1835), (Roberts Brothers, ed. 1891), Chapter II, Page 168
Equality may be a right, but no power on earth can convert it into fact.The Duchesse of Langeais (1834), (Macmillan & Co., ed. 1898), Page 169
Glory is the sun of the dead.The Quest of the Absolute (1834), (Gebbie Publishing Co., ed. 1895), Page 125
No one loves a woman because she is handsome or ugly, stupid or clever; we love because we love.The Commission in Lunacy (1836), (Dana Estes & Co., ed. 1901), Page 304
Finance, like Time, devours its own children.The Firm of Nucingen (1838), (Avil Publishing Co., ed. 1901), Page 298
Passion is the sum-total of humanity. Without passion, religion, history, romance, art, would all be useless.
(Also known as: All humanity is passion; without passion, religion, history, novels, art would be ineffectual.)The Magic Skin (1831), (Dana Estes & Co., ed. 1901), Author's Introduction, Page lxiv
There is no great talent without a strong will.The Muse of the Department (1843), (Gebbie Publishing Co., ed. 1899), Page 156
It is as absurd to deny that it is possible for a man always to love the same woman, as it would be to affirm that some famous musician needed several violins in order to execute a piece of music or compose a charming melody.The Physiology of Marriage (1829), (Dana Estes & Co., ed. 1901), Part I, Meditation V, Page 61
The habits of life form the soul, and the soul forms the physical presence.The Vicar of Tours (1832), (Roberts Brothers, ed. 1892), Chapter II, Page 271
Ideas consume the ages as passions consume men. When man is cured, humanity may possibly cure itself.Catherine de' Medici (1841), (Roberts Brothers, ed. 1894), Part II, Chapter V, Page 391
Death unites as well as separates; it silences all paltry feeling.Letters of Two Brides (1842), (Gebbie Publishing Co., ed. 1898), Part II, Chapter LVII, Page 381
In every case we receive only in proportion to what we give.The Physiology of Marriage (1829), (Dana Estes & Co., ed. 1901), Part I, Meditation VII, Aphorism LIX, Page 88
The life of a man who deliberately runs through his fortune often becomes a business speculation; his friends, his pleasures, patrons, and acquaintances are his capital.The Magic Skin (1831), (Dana Estes & Co., ed. 1901), Chapter II, Page 96
Modesty is the conscience of the body.The Physiology of Marriage (1829), (Dana Estes & Co., ed. 1901), Part III, Meditation XXVI, Page 293
Marriage is a fight to the death, before which the wedded couple ask a blessing from heaven, because it is the rashest of all undertakings to swear eternal love; the fight at once commences and victory, that is to say liberty, remains in the hands of the cleverer of the two.The Physiology of Marriage (1829), (Dana Estes & Co., ed. 1901), Part I, Meditation I, Page 18
Old men alone have time to love; young men are rowing the galleys of ambition.A Daughter Of Eve (1838), (Roberts Brothers, ed. 1895), Chapter VI, Page 90
Power does not consist in striking with force or with frequency, but in striking true.The Physiology of Marriage (1829), (Dana Estes & Co., ed. 1901), Part I, Meditation V, Aphorism XLIII, Page 64
Madness that is so nearly allied to genius can know no cure in this world.Gambara (1837), (DeFau & Co., ed. 1901), Page 355
Do not trust a woman who talks of her virtue.The Physiology of Marriage (1829), (Dana Estes & Co., ed. 1901), Part III, Meditation XXVII, Page 300
Persons without minds are like weeds that delight in good earth; they want to be amused by others, all the more because they are dull within.The Vicar of Tours (1832), (Roberts Brothers, ed. 1892), Chapter I, Page 255
If love is a child, passion is a man.The Physiology of Marriage (1829), (Dana Estes & Co., ed. 1901), Part I, Meditation VII, Page 87
Thought is a key to all treasures.The Magic Skin (1831), (Dana Estes & Co., ed. 1901), Chapter I, Page 32