“In Paris, when certain people see you ready to put your foot in the stirrup, some of them pull you back by the coattail, others loosen the buckle of the saddle-girth so that you’ll fall and break your head; this one takes the shoes of your horse, that one steals your whip. The least treacherousContinue reading “RKS Literature: Parisian Backstabbers: “The Atheist’s Mass” (Honoré de Balzac)”
Tag Archives: Honoré de Balzac
RKS Literature: Desperate Poverty and Great Talent: “The Atheist’s Mass” (Honoré de Balzac)
“There this poor young man experienced that desperate poverty which is a kind of melting-pot whence great talents emerge pure and incorruptible, just as diamonds can be subjected to any kind of shock without breaking. In the violence of unleashed passions, they acquire the most unshakeable honesty, and by dint of the constant labour withContinue reading “RKS Literature: Desperate Poverty and Great Talent: “The Atheist’s Mass” (Honoré de Balzac)”
RKS Literature: The Particularly Nasty British Press (Balzac)
“Whenever you see the press out for the blood of some powerful figure, you will not be far wrong in concluding that behind the attacks there is the story of a refusal to pay or to render some service or other. Blackmail arising out of their private lives is the special terror of rich EnglishmenContinue reading “RKS Literature: The Particularly Nasty British Press (Balzac)”
RKS 2023 Literature: What is True Love? (Balzac)
“True love is in many ways like childhood; it has the same heedless, careless dissipation of energies and the child’s ready laughter and ready tears.” Honoré de Balzac, “Lost Illusions”
RKS Literature: The Cold Blade of a Journalist (Balzac)
“He savoured one of the secret and the keenest pleasures known to the journalist- that of sharpening his epigrams, whetting the cold blade that will find its mark in the heart of the victim, and decorating the pommel for the benefit of the reader. The public admires the clever workmanship of that sword and hasContinue reading “RKS Literature: The Cold Blade of a Journalist (Balzac)”
RKS Literature: Conscience as a Stick (Balzac)
“Conscience, my friend, is a stick we all keep to beat our neighbours with, but never apply to ourselves.” Honoré de Balzac, “Lost Illusions”
RKS Literature: Dangers Facing the Lonely Intellectual (Balzac)
“His shop is a very good place to go to; you can talk to all great men of the day there. There, my dear fellow, a young man can learn more in an hour than by growing pale over books for 10 years. People discuss articles, and concoct subjects, and get to know famous andContinue reading “RKS Literature: Dangers Facing the Lonely Intellectual (Balzac)”
RKS Literature: Snubbed by the Parisian Aristocracy (Balzac)
“It was one thing to be despised by the country families of Angoulême, quite another by the aristocracy of Paris; by going out of their way on insult Lucien, the booby-squires had admitted his importance and treated him as a man: but for Mme d’Espard he simply did not exist. This was not a sentence,Continue reading “RKS Literature: Snubbed by the Parisian Aristocracy (Balzac)”
RKS Literature: The Warm Glow of Paris (Balzac)
“I will pick you up in my carriage, and we shall soon be in Paris. There, my dear, is the only life for superior people. We are only at ease among our peers; in any other society one suffers. Besides, Paris is the intellectual capital of the world, the stage of your success: cover quicklyContinue reading “RKS Literature: The Warm Glow of Paris (Balzac)”
RKS Literature: The Peculiarities of Society (Balzac)
“Among the peculiarities of society, have you not noted the capriciousness of its judgements and the inconsistency of its demands? There are people to whom everything is permitted. They can be guilty of the most outrageous things, and nothing they do is wrong; people hasten to find excuses for their conduct. But there are othersContinue reading “RKS Literature: The Peculiarities of Society (Balzac)”
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