quote · Legacy record
Was she acting entirely consciously? No: women are always sincere, even in the midst of their most shocking duplicities, because it is always some natural emotion which dominates them. Perhaps, having given this young man such a hold on her, by having openly demonstrated her affection for him, Delphine was merely responding to a sense of personal dignity, which led her either to revoke any concessions she might have made or, at least, to enjoy suspending them. Even at the very moment when passion seizes her, it is perfectly natural for a Parisian woman to delay her final fall, as a way of testing the heart of the man into whose hands she is about to deliver herself and her future!
Was she acting entirely consciously? No: women are always sincere, even in the midst of their most shocking duplicities, because it is always some natural emotion which dominates them. Perhaps, having given this young man such a hold on her, by having openly demonstrated her affection for him, Delphine was merely responding to a sense of personal dignity, which led her either to revoke any concessions she might have made or, at least, to enjoy suspending them. Even at the very moment when passion seizes her, it is perfectly natural for a Parisian woman to delay her final fall, as a way of testing the heart of the man into whose hands she is about to deliver herself and her future!
Approximate author period: c. 1824 AD · industrial
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- Author or tradition
- Honoré de Balzac
Attribution: attributed - Country attributed
- Not established
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- Approximate author period: c. 1824 AD · industrial
Approximate author-period anchor from life dates 1799 to 1850; Wikidata Q9711, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q9711 (accessed 2026-10-08). Not a quotation composition date.
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Supplied reference C; CSV row 164620; supplied attribution, independently unverified
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