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
Vice is perhaps a desire to learn everything.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote suggests that the pursuit of knowledge can be seen as a vice, indicating excessive desire.
In this quote, Honore De Balzac reflects on the idea that an insatiable thirst for knowledge can lead to negative consequences. While the desire to learn is generally viewed as virtuous, Balzac warns that it can become a flaw—transforming into a vice—if it drives a person to seek knowledge without restraint or consideration of its impact on their life and relationships.
Themes
KnowledgeViceLearningWisdomCuriosity
In practice
Example use cases
During a speech on lifelong learning, I referenced Balzac's quote to illustrate the importance of balancing knowledge with wisdom.
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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Marriage must incessantly contend with a monster that devours everything: familiarity.
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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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