836 Quotes by Honoré de Balzac

Sometimes, one gesture comprises an entire drama, the accent of one word ruins an entire existence, and the indifference of one glance kills the happiest passion.

Power is action; the electoral principle is discussion. No political action is possible when discussion is permanently established.

As a rule, only the poor are generous. Rich people can always find excellent reasons for not handing over twenty thousand francs to a relative.

Man is no match for woman where mischief reigns.

An ugly woman, married to King Henry VIII, would have defied the axe and daunted her husband's infidelities.

One admirable trait in women is their lack of illusions about themselves. They never reason about their most blameworthy actions; their feelings carry them away. Even their dissimulation comes naturally to them, and in them crime is free of all baseness. Most of the time they simply do not know how it happened.

It's catastrophies which turn wise and strong people into philosophers.

The smallest flower is a thought, a life answering to some feature of the Great Whole, of whom they have a persistent intuition.

Our greatest fears lie in anticipation.