836 Quotes by Honoré de Balzac

Isn't it really quite extraordinary to see that, since man took his first step, no one has asked himself why he walks, how he walks, if he has ever walked, if he could walk better, what he achieves in walking .. questions that are tied to all the philosophical, psychological, and political systems which preoccupy the world.

The endless legacy of the past to the present is the secret source of human genius.

Man's condition is horrible because, no matter what form his happiness may take, it arises from some species of ignorance.

When Religion and Royalty are swept away, the people will attack the great, and after the great, they will fall upon the rich.

In love, what a woman mistakes for disgust is actually clearsightedness. If she does not admire a man, she scorns him.

The man who enters his wife's dressing room is either a philosopher or a fool.

Economized love is never real love.

Authentic love always assumes the mystery of modesty, even in its expression, because actions speak louder than words. Unlike a feigned love, it feels no need to set a conflagration.

Death unites as well as separates; it silences all paltry feeling.