“ A highway robber is better than a bankrupt: the one attacks you and you can defend yourself, he risks his own life ”
Honoré de Balzac, Eugénie Grandet (1834). copy citation
| Author | Honoré de Balzac |
|---|---|
| Source | Eugénie Grandet |
| Topic | risk highway |
| Date | 1834 |
| Language | English |
| Reference | |
| Note | Translated by Katharine Prescott Wormeley |
| Weblink | https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Eug%C3%A9nie_Grandet |
Context
“he resumed, "is to commit a theft which the law, unfortunately, takes under its protection. People have given their property to Guillaume Grandet trusting to his reputation for honor and integrity; he has made away with it all, and left them nothing but their eyes to weep with. A highway robber is better than a bankrupt: the one attacks you and you can defend yourself, he risks his own life; but the other—in short, Charles is dishonored."
The words rang in the poor girl's heart and weighed it down with their heavy meaning. Upright and delicate as a flower born in the depths of a forest, she knew nothing of the world's maxims, of its deceitful arguments and specious sophisms;”
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