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
If the human heart sometimes finds moments of pause as it ascends the slopes of affection, it rarely halts on the way down.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote suggests that while love can bring moments of reflection, it is often a rapid descent into emotional challenges once affection fades.
Honore De Balzac's quote highlights the complex nature of love and affection, indicating that during the highs of romance, there may be moments of introspection and calm. However, as relationships become strained or end, the decline is typically swift and devoid of the thoughtful pauses experienced during more harmonious times.
Themes
LoveAffectionEmotionRelationshipsReflection
In practice
Example use cases
During a wedding speech, to emphasize the ups and downs of love.
More from Honore De Balzac
All quotes →Loyalty in time of need is possibly one of the noblest of victories a courtier can win over himself.
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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?
Honore De BalzacRead
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.
Honore De BalzacRead
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