836 Quotes by Honoré de Balzac

Once she has committed sin, there is nothing left for the Protestant woman, whereas the Catholic Church, hope of forgiveness makes a woman sublime.

Among even the happiest married couples there are always moments of regret.

God reveals himself unfailingly to the thoughtful seeker.

A wife is property that one acquires by contract, she is transferable, because possession of her requires title; in fact, woman is, so to speak, only man's appendage; consequently, slice, cut, clip her, you have all rights to her.

You cannot pluck love out of your heart as you would pull a tooth.

By dint of making sacrifices, a man grows interested in the person who exacts them. Great ladies, like courtesans, know this truth by instinct.

Vocations which we wanted to pursue, but didn't, bleed, like colors, on the whole of our existence.

As a rule, only the poor are generous.

It is beyond a doubt that during the sixteenth century, and the years immediately preceding and following it, poisoning had been brought to a pitch of perfection which remains unknown to modern chemistry, but which is indisputably proved by history. Italy, the cradle of modern science, was at that time, the inventor and mistress of these secrets, many of which are lost.