Honore de Balzac

There is no such thing as a great talent without great will power.

One should believe in marriage as in the immortality of the soul.

The most virtuous women have something within them, something that is never chaste.

There are some women whose pregnancy would make some sly bachelor smile.

When women love us, they forgive us everything, even our crimes; when they do not love us, they give us credit for nothing, not even our virtues.

All humanity is passion; without passion, religion, history, novels, art would be ineffectual.

Passion is universal humanity. Without it religion, history, romance and art would be useless.

For passion, be it observed, brings insight with it; it can give a sort of intelligence to simpletons, fools, and idiots, especially during youth.

We exaggerate misfortune and happiness alike. We are never as bad off or as happy as we say we are.

Small natures require despotism to exercise their sinews, as great souls thirst for equality to give play to their heart.

Equality may perhaps be a right, but no power on earth can ever turn it into a fact.

A mother's happiness is like a beacon, lighting up the future but reflected also on the past in the guise of fond memories.

Political liberty, the peace of a nation, and science itself are gifts for which Fate demands a heavy tax in blood!

Clouds symbolize the veils that shroud God.

The fact is that love is of two kinds, one which commands, and one which obeys. The two are quite distinct, and the passion to which the one gives rise is not the passion of the other.

Love is the poetry of the senses.

Nobody loves a woman because she is handsome or ugly, stupid or intelligent. We love because we love.

True love is eternal, infinite, and always like itself. It is equal and pure, without violent demonstrations: it is seen with white hairs and is always young in the heart.