Honoré De Balzac And His Best Quotes

Choosing the best quotes from Honoré de Balzac, the French novelist, is not an easy task. Almost all of his sayings give wisdom a beauty that makes it difficult to select just a few. After all, we are talking about one of the greatest novelists of all time.

One of the most interesting aspects of Balzac’s quotes is the realism and sharpness with which he visualizes the human condition. Honoré de Balzac was just that: a deep observer of individual and social behavior, which is reflected in his works.

Another remarkable aspect of this great novelist’s work is his respect for human complexity. His ideas and characters are therefore never one-dimensional or simple.

He knew well the conflicting forces at work in each of us. Forces that bring out our greatness but emphasize our misery. Here are some of Balzac’s most prominent quotes.

Three in-depth quotes from Honoré de Balzac

This quote states that just as memory plays a significant role in the construction of identity, forgetting also plays a decisive role in the ability to move forward.

Another quote from Balzac says, “There is no such thing as great talent without great willpower.” Balzac is the perfect example of hard work. He worked up to 15 hours every day and spent hundreds of nights without sleeping. That is why his great work La Comédie humaine is both monumental and immortal.

Another of his quotes reads: “When you doubt your strength, give strength to your doubt.” This is a pun containing a great truth: uncertainty feeds itself.

Honoré de Balzac, the thinker

Honoré de Balzac reflected a lot on life and its meaning. He also thought a lot about values ​​and their meaning.

The result of these thoughts is this statement: “Our worst misfortunes never happen, and most misery is in anticipation.” Simply put, thinking about the bad things that could happen to us is pointless in most cases.

One of the recurring themes in Balzac’s quotes is vices and passions. In this regard, he says, “Noble passions are like vices: the more they are satisfied, the greater they become.” This tells us how passions really are with their positive and negative sides. Both passions and vices tend to grow if we allow them to arise.

Another great quote is, “In great crises the heart is broken or bent.” The word ‘tan’ in this case refers to the original meaning of the word: to become flexible enough.

Relationships between persons

This is a beautiful Balzac quote that refers to friendship: “What makes friendship inseparable and what doubles its charms is a feeling we lack in love: I mean certainty. He certainly wasn’t wrong. While there is always some uncertainty in romantic love, friendship gives us security.

Also with regard to relationships between people, Balzac noted: “While villains reconcile after stabbing each other, lovers break up with each other through a single look or word. ” True love bands are much more sensitive than those based on convenience or habit.

Balzac was French and like a good Frenchman, he also devoted some of his reflections to looks and elegance: “Elegance is the ability to do nothing like others, but give the impression that we do everything the same way as everyone else. ”

Like many other great characters in history, Balzac’s life was not easy either. He survived a violent childhood and adolescence, and had a breakdown he called “intellectual blockage.”

He loved novels and enjoyed the admiration of his contemporaries. In doing so, he left a treasure trove of wisdom in the form of literature for those intrepid explorers who also live their lives in search of knowledge.