Quotes from book
Pierrette

Name: Pierrette
Author: Honoré de Balzac

Honoré de Balzac Original title Pierrette (French, 1840)

“No man would have torn himself from the comfort of a morning nap to listen to a minstrel in a jacket; none but a maid awakes to songs of love.”

Honoré de Balzac book Pierrette

Aucun homme ne s'arrache aux douceurs du sommeil matinal pour écouter un troubadour en veste, une fille seule se réveille à un chant d'amour.
Source: Pierrette (1840), Ch. I: The Lorrains.

“The provinces are provinces; they are only ridiculous when they mimic Paris.”

Honoré de Balzac book Pierrette

La province est la province: elle est ridicule quand elle veut singer Paris.
Ch III: Pathology of Retired Mercers.
Pierrette (1840)

“Pierrette, like all those who suffer more than they have strength to bear, kept silence. Silence is the only weapon by which such victims can conquer; it baffles the Cossack charges of envy, the savage skirmishings of suspicion; it does at times give victory, crushing and complete, — for what is more complete than silence? it is absolute; it is one of the attributes of infinity.”

Honoré de Balzac book Pierrette

Pierrette fit comme les gens qui souffrent au delà de leurs forces, elle garda le silence.Ce silence est, pour tous les êtres attaqués, le seul moyen de triompher: il lasse les charges cosaques des envieux, les sauvages escarmouches des ennemis; il donne une victoire écrasante et complète. Quoi de plus complet que le silence?Il est absolu, n'est-ce pas une des manières d'être de l'infini?
Source: Pierrette (1840), Ch. VI: An Old Maid's Jealousy

“It is as difficult for towns and cities as it is for commercial houses to recover from ruin.”

Honoré de Balzac book Pierrette

Les villes se relèvent aussi difficilement que les maisons de commerce de leur ruine.
Source: Pierrette (1840), Ch. III: Pathology of Retired Mercers.

“Sufferings predispose the mind to devotion, and nearly all young girls, impelled by instinctive tenderness, are inclined to mysticism, the deepest aspect of religion.”

Honoré de Balzac book Pierrette

Les souffrances disposent à la dévotion, et presque toutes les jeunes filles, poussées par une tendresse instinctive, inclinent au mysticisme, le côté profond de la religion.
Source: Pierrette (1840), Ch. V: History of Poor Cousins in the Home of Rich Ones.

“Like many widows, she came to the unwise decision of remarrying.”

Honoré de Balzac book Pierrette

Comme beaucoup de veuves, elle eut l'idée malsaine de se remarier.
Source: Pierrette (1840), Ch. I: The Lorrains.

“Little minds need to practise despotism to relieve their nerves, just as great souls thirst for equality in friendship to exercise their hearts.”

Honoré de Balzac book Pierrette

Source: Pierrette (1840), Ch. IV: Pierrette.
Context: Little minds need to practise despotism to relieve their nerves, just as great souls thirst for equality in friendship to exercise their hearts. Narrow natures expand by persecuting as much as others through beneficence; they prove their power over their fellows by cruel tyranny as others do by loving kindness; they simply go the way their temperaments drive them. Add to this the propulsion of self-interest and you may read the enigma of most social matters.