Honoré de Balzac
All human power is a compound of time and patience.
| works | La Comédie humaine, Eugénie Grandet, La Peau de chagrin, Le Père Goriot, Colonel ChabertLa Rabouilleuse, Le Lys dans la vallée, Illusions perdues, Splendeurs et misères des courtisanes |
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La femme est une propriété que l’on acquiert par contrat, elle est mobilière, car la possession vaut titre ; enfin, la femme n’est, à proprement parler, qu’une annexe de l’homme ; or, tranchez, coupez, rognez, elle vous appartient à tous les titres. [The woman is a property that one acquires by contract, she is movable, because possession constitutes title; finally, woman is, strictly speaking, only an annex of man; Now, slice, cut, trim, it belongs to you in every way]
“The death ! but you have great obligations to fulfill towards the Society, mademoiselle. Are you not then the mother of the poor to whom you give clothes, wood in winter and work in summer? Your great fortune is a loan that must be returned, and you have holyly accepted it as such. To bury yourself in a convent would be selfishness; as for remaining an old maid, you must not. First, could you manage your immense fortune alone? you might lose it. You would soon have a thousand trials, and you would be mired in inextricable difficulties. Believe your pastor: a husband is useful to you, you must preserve what God has given you. I speak to you as if I were a dear flock. You love God too sincerely not to make your salvation inmiddle of the world, of which you are one of the most beautiful ornaments, and to which you give holy examples.” [Eugenie Grandet]
To kill a relative of whom you are tired is something, but to inherit his property afterwards — that is a real pleasure! [Le cousin Pons]