“Who is to decide which is the grimmer sight: withered hearts, or empty skulls?” Quote by Honore de Balzac
“It is always assumed by the empty-headed, who chatter about themselves for want of something better, that people who do not discuss their affairs openly must have something to hide.” PeopleWantEmptyAffairSomething BetterChatter Author:Honore de Balzac
“He hesitated till the last moment, but finally dropped them in the box, saying, "I shall win!"--the cry of a gambler, the cry of the great general, the compulsive cry that has ruined more men than it has ever saved.” MenMomentsLastsWinningCryBoxesSavedRuinedSelf Assuredness Author:Honore de Balzac
“My first cat was named Cowboy, after the Dallas Cowboys.” FirstsCatCowboyDallasMy CowboyDallas Cowboy Author:Jenna Bush
“Ah! What pleasure it must be to a woman to suffer for the one she loves!” SufferingGirlPleasure Author:Honore de Balzac
“We flew back home like swallows. 'Is it happiness that makes us so light?' Agathe asked.” HomeLightFlewBack Home Author:Honore de Balzac
“What moralists describe as the mysteries of the human heart are solely the deceiving thoughts, the spontaneous impulses of self-regard. The sudden changes in character, about which so much has been said, are instinctive calculations for the furtherance of our own pleasures. Seeing himself now in his fine clothes, his new gloves and shoes, Eugène de Rastignac forgot his noble resolve. Youth, when it swerves toward wrong, dares not look in the mirror of conscience; maturity has already seen itself there. That is the whole difference between the two phases of life.” HumansLooksHeartHas BeensSaidTwoSelfWholeCharacterDifferencesPleasureSeeingMysteryYouthFineClothesConscienceMirrorsRegardShoesDareNobleImpulseMaturityResolveDeceivingPhasesSpontaneousHuman HeartCalculationsGlovesMoralistSwervePhases Of LifeSudden Change Author:Honore de Balzac
“A letter is a soul, so faithful an echo of the speaking voice that to the sensitive it is among the richest treasures of love.” SoulVoiceLettersTreasureFaithfulSensitiveEchoes Author:Honore de Balzac
“And he, like many jaded people, had few pleasures left in life save good food and drink.” PeopleLeftPleasureDrinkGood FoodJadedFood And Drink Author:Honore de Balzac
“However gross a man may be, the minute he expresses a strong and genuine affection, some inner secretion alters his features, animates his gestures, and colors his voice. The stupidest man will often, under the stress of passion, achieve heights of eloquence, in thought if not in language, and seem to move in some luminous sphere. Goriot's voice and gesture had at this moment the power of communication that characterizes the great actor. Are not our finer feelings the poems of the human will?” IfsMenHumansMayMomentsFeelingsSeemsMovingPassionActorsLanguageStrongVoiceMinutesAchieveColorCommunicationStressAffectionGenuineFeaturesHeightSpheresGesturesGrossEloquenceLuminousGreat ActorsStupidestHuman Will Author:Honore de Balzac
“How did you get back?' asked Vautrin. 'I walked,' replied Eugene. 'I wouldn't like half-pleasures, myself,' observed the tempter. 'I'd want to go there in my own carriage, have my own box, and come back in comfort. All or nothing, that's my motto.' 'And a very good one,' said Madame Vauquer.” WantSaidMy OwnPleasureHalfComfortVery GoodBoxesGet BackMottoCarriagesMy Motto Author:Honore de Balzac