Honore De Balzac

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

Love has its own instinct, finding the way to the heart, as the feeblest insect finds the way to its flower, with a will which nothing can dismay nor turn aside.

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

Bureaucracy is a giant mechanism operated by pygmies.

Modesty is the conscience of the body.

I do not regard a broker as a member of the human race.

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

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.

Courtesy is only a thin veneer on the general selfishness.

Love is the poetry of the senses.

The motto of chivalry is also the motto of wisdom; to serve all, but love only one.

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.

Love may be or it may not, but where it is, it ought to reveal itself in its immensity.

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.

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

The more one judges, the less one loves.

A woman knows the face of the man she loves as a sailor knows the open sea.

But also remember: if you have any genuine feelings, hide them like treasure; never let anyone so much as suspect them, or you're lost. Instead of being the executioner, you'll be the victim. And if you ever fall in love, keep that absolutely secret! Never breathe a word until you're completely sure of the person to whom you open your heart. And to protect that love, even before you feel it, learn to despise the world.

Such is life. It is no cleaner than a kitchen; it reeks like a kitchen; and if you mean to cook your dinner, you must expect to soil your hands; the real art is in getting them clean again, and therein lies the whole morality of our epoch.

True love rules especially through memory.