“The man as he converses is the lover; silent, he is the husband.”

—  Honoré de Balzac

L’homme qui nous parle est l’amant, l’homme qui ne nous parle plus est le mari.
Part I, ch. VII.
Letters of Two Brides (1841-1842)

Original

L’homme qui nous parle est l’amant, l’homme qui ne nous parle plus est le mari.

Letters of Two Brides (1841-1842)

Adopted from Wikiquote. Last update Nov. 2, 2021. History

Help us to complete the source, original and additional information

Do you have more details about the quote "The man as he converses is the lover; silent, he is the husband." by Honoré de Balzac?
Honoré de Balzac photo
Honoré de Balzac 157
French writer 1799–1850

Related quotes

Baba Hari Dass photo

“God is the only lover and He loves in different forms - parents, husband, wife, friend, children, animals. All are His forms and He, Himself, has no form.”

Baba Hari Dass (1923–2018) master yogi, author, builder, commentator of Indian spiritual tradition

Source: Silence Speaks, from the chalkboard of Baba Hari Dass, 1977, p.9

Winston S. Churchill photo

“Too often the strong, silent man is silent only because he does not know what to say, and is reputed strong only because he has remained silent.”

Winston S. Churchill (1874–1965) Prime Minister of the United Kingdom

Winston S. Churchill: His Complete Speeches (1974), Chelsea House, Volume IV: 1922–1928, p. 3462 ISBN 0835206939
Early career years (1898–1929)

George Lyttelton, 1st Baron Lyttelton photo

“The lover in the husband may be lost.”

George Lyttelton, 1st Baron Lyttelton (1709–1773) British politician

Source: Advice to a Lady (1731), Line 112.

Paulo Coelho photo

“a man doesn't prove he's a man by getting an erection. He's only a real man if he can pleasure a woman. And if he can pleasure a prostitute, he'll think he's the best lover on the block" -Nyah”

Paulo Coelho book Eleven Minutes

Source: Eleven Minutes

Samuel Richardson photo

“There hardly can be a greater difference between any two men, than there too often is, between the same man, a lover and a husband.”

Samuel Richardson book The History of Sir Charles Grandison

Vol. 4, letter 17.
Sir Charles Grandison (1753–1754)

Conrad Aiken photo

“In one room, silently, lover looks upon lover,
And thinks the air is fire.”

Conrad Aiken (1889–1973) American novelist and poet

The House of Dust (1916 - 1917)

Henry Fielding photo

“A lover, when he is admitted to cards, ought to be solemnly silent, and observe the motions of his mistress. He must laugh when she laughs, sigh when she sighs. In short, he should be the shadow of her mind. A lady, in the presence of her lover, should never want a looking-glass; as a beau, in the presence of his looking-glass, never wants a mistress.”

Henry Fielding Love in Several Masques

Act II, sc. xi
Love in Several Masques (1728)

Thaddeus Stevens photo

“You must be a bastard for I knew your mother's husband and he was a gentleman and honest man.”

Thaddeus Stevens (1792–1868) American politician

In Selected Papers of Thaddeus Stevens

Marilyn Monroe photo

“Husbands are chiefly good as lovers when they are betraying their wives.”

Marilyn Monroe (1926–1962) American actress, model, and singer

As quoted in Marilyn Monroe : In Her Own Words (1983), edited by Roger Taylor
Variant: Husbands are chiefly good as lovers when they are betraying their wives.

Related topics