Balzac’s Best Phrases
Choosing the best Balzac phrases is an arduous task. Almost all his statements endow wisdom with a beauty that it is difficult to make a fair selection. After all, we are talking about one of the greatest novelists of all time.
One of the most interesting aspects of Balzac’s phrases is the realism and sharpness with which he visualizes the human condition. Honorato de Balzac was just that: a keen observer of individual and social behavior. This is reflected in their texts.
Another notable aspect of the work of this great novelist is respect for human complexity. His ideas and his characters are never one-dimensional or simple. He knew that contradictory forces act in the same man, causing the greatest greatness and the greatest misery. These are some of the most outstanding Balzac phrases.
Three forceful phrases by Balzac
The genius of the French realist novel tells us: ” Forgetting is the great secret of strong and creative lives. ” Just as memory plays a definitive role in the construction of identity, forgetting also plays a decisive role in the ability to move on.
Another of Balzac’s phrases states: ” There is no great talent without great will power. ” Nobody better than him to say it. It is said that he worked up to 15 hours each day and spent hundreds of sleepless nights. That is why his great work The Human Comedy is monumental and eternal.
One more of his sentences states: ” When you doubt your power, you give power to your doubt. ” It is a play on words that contains a great truth. Insecurity feeds itself voraciously. That is why it is better not to give it space.
Balzac, the thinker
Honorato de Balzac reflected a lot about life and its meaning. To the values and their meaning. The result of these musings is this statement: ” Our worst misfortunes never happen, and most miseries come early. ” In short, thinking about the bad things to come is, on many occasions, useless.
One of the recurring themes in Balzac’s phrases are vices and passions. In this regard, he says: ” Noble passions are like vices : the more they are satisfied, the more they grow. ” It tells us about the face and the stamp of passions: the positive and the negative. Both tend to grow as they are allowed to flow.
Another of those phrases by Balzac that is a condensation of wisdom says: ” In great crises, the heart breaks or is hardened. ” The word “tanning”, in this case, refers to the original meaning of the word: to make it flexible to prevent it from decomposing.
Relationships between people
This is a beautiful phrase from Balzac referring to friendship: ” What makes friends indissoluble and doubles their charm is a feeling that love lacks, certainty “. He is not without reason. While in romantic love there is always a cloak of uncertainty, friendship has a solidity that gives certainty.
Also about relationships between people, Balzac points out: ” While scoundrels reconcile after stabbing each other, lovers irrevocably break with a simple look or word. ” He is also right. Genuine love ties are much more delicate than those based on convenience or custom.
Balzac was French and as a good Frenchman he also devoted some of his reflections to the subject of dress, appearance and elegance. His perspective on this is very particular. One of his phrases says: ” Elegance is the science of doing nothing the same as others, seeming to do everything in the same way as them. “
Like many other great characters in history, Balzac’s life was not easy. He survived a childhood and adolescence filled with abuse and a breakdown that he called “intellectual congestion. ” He lived a great love for the novel that lasted almost a lifetime and enjoyed the admiration of his contemporaries, leaving us a quarry of wisdom in the form of literature for those intrepid explorers who seek knowledge.
