836 Quotes by Honoré de Balzac

He's got his dog trained so that it only does it on newspapers. The trouble is it does it when he's reading the blasted things.

The response man has the greatest difficulty in tolerating is pity, especially when he warrants it. Hatred is a tonic, it makes one live, it inspires vengeance, but pity kills, it makes our weakness weaker.

One should believe in marriage as in the immortality of the soul.

With a woman, always make good use of a secret. She will be proportionally grateful to you, like a scoundrel who grants his respect to an honest man he has been unable to swindle.

What is art? Nature concentrated.

The great secret of social alchemy is to profit best from each stage in our lives, to gather all its leaves in spring, all its flowers in summer, and all its fruits in autumn.

It is a singular fact that most men of action incline to the theory of fatalism, while the greater part of men of thought believe in providence.

Many men nourish a pride which urges them to conceal their struggles and show themselves only as conquerors.

Talent is a flame, but genius is a fire.