Quotes from A Bachelor's Establishment — Honoré de Balzac
1799–1850 France
← All quotes by Honoré de Balzac
4 quotes
A widow has two tasks before her, whose duties clash: she is a mother, and yet she must exercise paternal authority.
A Bachelor's Establishment (1842)
The passion, observe, which is able to reflect, gives even to ninnies, fools, and imbeciles a species of intelligence, especially in youth.
A Bachelor's Establishment (1842)
Lucidity of mind, like the rays of the sun, can have no effect except by the continuity of a direct line; it can divine only on condition of not breaking that line; the curvettings of chance bemuddle it.
A Bachelor's Establishment (1842)
There are two species of timidity, — the timidity of the mind, and the timidity of the nerves; a physical timidity, and a moral timidity. The one is independent of the other. The body may fear and tremble, while the mind is calm and courageous, or vice versa. This is the key to many moral eccentricities. When the two are united in one man, that man will be a cipher all his life.
A Bachelor's Establishment (1842)