“ If it is painful to see a man whom nature has made a nonentity, how much worse is the spectacle of a man of parts brought to that position? ”
Honoré de Balzac, Letters of Two Brides (1841). copy citation
| Author | Honoré de Balzac |
|---|---|
| Source | Letters of Two Brides |
| Topic | spectacle |
| Date | 1841 |
| Language | English |
| Reference | |
| Note | Translated by R. S. Scott |
| Weblink | http://www.gutenberg.org/files/1941/1941-h/1941-h.htm |
Context
“What seems to me important is that the perfect equality which reigns between lovers ought never to appear in the case of husband and wife, under pain of undermining the whole fabric of society and entailing terrible disasters. If it is painful to see a man whom nature has made a nonentity, how much worse is the spectacle of a man of parts brought to that position? Before very long you will have reduced Macumer to the mere shadow of a man. He will cease to have a will and character of his own, and become mere clay in your hands. You will have so completely moulded him to your likeness, that your household will consist of only one person instead of two, and that one necessarily imperfect.”
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