“ When passion, or self-interest, or age dims that spark of unquestioning fealty that gleams in a young man's eyes, a woman feels a certain mistrust of him, and begins to observe him critically. ”
Honoré de Balzac, Lost Illusions (1843). copy citation
| Author | Honoré de Balzac |
|---|---|
| Source | Lost Illusions |
| Topic | age passion |
| Date | 1843 |
| Language | English |
| Reference | |
| Note | Translated by Ellen Marriage |
| Weblink | https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/13159/pg13159.html |
Context
“She saw in the magistrate's face an expression which, since her marriage, she had seen in no eyes but Kolb's; and for a beautiful woman like Eve, this expression is the criterion by which men are judged. When passion, or self-interest, or age dims that spark of unquestioning fealty that gleams in a young man's eyes, a woman feels a certain mistrust of him, and begins to observe him critically. The Cointets, Cerizet, and Petit-Claud—all the men whom Eve felt instinctively to be her enemies—had turned hard, indifferent eyes on her; with the deputy-magistrate, therefore, she felt at ease, although, in spite of his kindly courtesy, he swept all her hopes away by his first words.”
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