“ I know an honest man when I see him, and I can tell you, there are not many men like you. ”
 Honoré de Balzac, Father Goriot (1835). copy citation

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Author Honoré de Balzac
Source Father Goriot
Topic
Date 1835
Language English
Reference
Note Translated by Ellen Marriage
Weblink http://www.gutenberg.org/files/1237/1237-h/1237-h.htm

Context

“Keep them for her, in the pocket of the waistcoat.” Goriot looked hard at Eugene, reached out and took the law student’s hand, and Eugene felt a tear fall on it. “You will succeed,” the old man said. “God is just, you see. I know an honest man when I see him, and I can tell you, there are not many men like you. I am to have another dear child in you, am I? There, go to sleep; you can sleep; you are not yet a father. She was crying! and I have to be told about it!—and I was quietly eating my dinner, like an idiot, all the time—I, who would sell the Father, Son and Holy Ghost to save one tear to either of them.”” source