One can imagine the look the two lovers exchanged; it was like a flame, for virtuous lovers have not a shred of hypocrisy.
Honore De BalzacRead
Hatred is the vice of narrow souls; they feed it with all their littleness, and make it the pretext of base tyrannies.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Hatred is a sign of a small-minded person who uses it to justify their cruelty.
In this quote, Balzac suggests that hatred stems from a limited perspective and immaturity. Those who hold onto hatred often do so due to their own insecurities and smallness of character, which they use as an excuse to dominate or mistreat others, thus perpetuating tyranny and injustice.
Themes
HatredTyrannySoulLittlenessCruelty
In practice
Example use cases
During a discussion on intolerance, one might quote Balzac to emphasize the dangers of harboring hatred.
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Who is to decide which is the grimmer sight: withered hearts, or empty skulls?
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However gross a man may be, the minute he expresses a strong and genuine affection, some inner secretion alters his features, animates his gestures, and colors his voice. The stupidest man will often, under the stress of passion, achieve heights of eloquence, in thought if not in language, and seem to move in some luminous sphere. Goriot's voice and gesture had at this moment the power of communication that characterizes the great actor. Are not our finer feelings the poems of the human will?
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Love is a religion, and its rituals cost more than those of other religions. It goes by quickly and, like a street urchin, it likes to mark its passage by a trail of devastation.
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