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Quote by Honoré de Balzac

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Cousin Bette

In this classic work, the protagonist, Bette, a shrewd and ambitious woman, manipulates and schemes her way into the upper class, revealing the corrupting influence of wealth and power on human nature. more

Author

Honoré de Balzac

Browse famous quotes and profile details for Honoré de Balzac. more

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“Gone the longest time you were, you my eyes long haven’t crossed, but my heart, alone from her, different past remembers, lost: how like children we would play, how we laughed without dismay, how the silence wide and lost, was of ours the pleasure most…”

PleasureSilenceGoneLaughterEyesRemembranceHeartsDismayFor The Longest TimeWide And Lost
Book:На чист Български...: Pristine Bulgarian sayings...
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“Much changes in eighteen months on earth, in the age of acceleration that began around the turn of the millennium and still continues to this day. All our stories are told more quickly now, we are addicted to the acceleration, we have forgotten the pleasures of the old slownesses, of the dawdles, the browses, the three-volume novels, the four-hour motion pictures, the thirteen-episode drama series, the pleasures of duration, of lingering. Do what you have to do, tell your story, live your life, get out quickly, spit spot.”

LifeStoriesPleasureDurationLingeringSlownessQuicknessAccelerationBrowsingDawdling
Book:Two Years Eight Months and Twenty-Eight Nights
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“It was not imprisonment, supposedly, but simply that all Manchus needed special protection because they were related to the royal house and so were part of officialdom. Actually it was a luxurious imprisonment, for this was the Chinese way of conquering enemies. When the Manchu invasion of 1644 was successful in a military sense-and almost any people could invade China successfully, it seemed, in a military sense-China did not resist. The people were apparently passive, mildly curious, and even courteous to their conquerors. The real struggle came afterwards, but so subtly that the conquerors never knew they were being conquered. The technique of victory was that as soon as the invaders laid down their arms the philosophical but intensely practical Chinese persuaded them to move into palaces and begin to enjoy themselves. The more the new rulers ate and drink, the better pleased the Chinese were, and if they also learned to enjoy gambling and opium and many wives, so much the better. One would have thought that the Chinese were delighted to be invaded and conquered. On the pretext of increased comfort, the men shoes were persuaded to live in especially pleasant part of any city, and to be protected by special guards against rebellious citizens. This meant they were segregated and since they were encouraged to do no work, the actual and tedious details of the government were assumed performed by the chinese, ostensibly for them. The result of this life of idleness and luxury was that the Manchus generally became a fit while the Chinese administered the government. The Manchus were like pet cats and the Chinese kept them so, knowing that when the degeneration was complete, a Chinese revolutionary would overthrow the rotten structure. Revolution was in the Chinese tradition and every dynasty was overthrown, if not by foreign invasion, then by native revolution.”

PleasureRevolutionRoyaltySubtlety
Book:My Several Worlds
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“It was not imprisonment, supposedly, but simply that all Manchus needed special protection because they were related to the royal house and so were part of officialdom. Actually it was a luxurious imprisonment, for this was the Chinese way of conquering enemies. When the Manchu invasion of 1644 was successful in a military sense-and almost any people could invade China successfully, it seemed, in a military sense-China did not resist. The people were apparently passive, mildly curious, and even courteous to their conquerors. The real struggle came afterwards, but so subtly that the conquerors never knew they were being conquered. The technique of victory was that as soon as the invaders laid down their arms the philosophical but intensely practical Chinese persuaded them to move into palaces and begin to enjoy themselves. The more the new rulers ate and drink, the better pleased the Chinese were, and if they also learned to enjoy gambling and opium and many wives, so much the better. One would have thought that the Chinese were delighted to be invaded and conquered. On the pretext of increased comfort, the Manchus were persuaded to live in especially pleasant part of any city, and to be protected by special guards against rebellious citizens. This meant they were segregated and since they were encouraged to do no work, the actual and tedious details of the government were assumed performed by the chinese, ostensibly for them. The result of this life of idleness and luxury was that the Manchus generally became a fit while the Chinese administered the government. The Manchus were like pet cats and the Chinese kept them so, knowing that when the degeneration was complete, a Chinese revolutionary would overthrow the rotten structure. Revolution was in the Chinese tradition and every dynasty was overthrown, if not by foreign invasion, then by native revolution”

PleasureRebellionRoyaltySubtlety
Book:My Several Worlds
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“j'ai senti monter quelque chose que je n'avais encore jamais senti, des frissons, des décharges dans tout mon corps qui s'éveillait, se déverrouillait, alors la peur s'en est mêlée, peur de l'architecte autant que de moi, peur de me laisser aller, du plaisir qu'il était capable de me donner, c'était si nouveau, je venais de découvrir les mille terminaisons nerveuses de mon clitoris.”

LovePleasureIntimacyFemale Pleasure
Book:L'Amour après
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