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About this quote

What does it mean?
Virtuous women possess something that is never pure, suggesting a tension between moral reputation and hidden desire.
In plain terms
Good women have a side that isn’t completely chaste.
What can you take from it?
Don't assume outward virtue means inner purity.

Where it applies

  • judging character
  • relationships

Putting it to work

  • look beyond appearances
  • ask deeper questions

Questions to consider

  • What does virtue really mean?
  • Can morality coexist with desire?

Another view

The statement generalizes women and imposes a moral judgment.

More from Honore de Balzac

  1. La vertu des femmes est peut-etre une question de temperament.

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  2. L'amour est la plus melodieuse de toutes les harmonies, et nous en avons le sentiment inne. La femme est un delicieux instrument de plaisir, mais il faut en co…

    Permalink to quote #26
  3. Les moeurs sont l'hypocrisie des nations.

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