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
Small natures require despotism to exercise their sinews, as great souls thirst for equality to give play to their heart.
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote contrasts the needs of small-minded people with those of great souls, suggesting that the former require control while the latter seek equality.
Honore De Balzac's quote highlights the dichotomy between individuals with limited perspectives and those with expansive aspirations. While smaller natures may depend on authoritarian structures to find strength and direction, those with greater ambitions and deep understanding yearn for equality and collaboration, allowing their true potential to flourish and contribute meaningfully to society.
Themes
EqualityDespotismNatureSoulFreedom
In practice
Example use cases
In a discussion about governance and society, one might use this quote to illustrate the need for democratic values.
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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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