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Quotation from Father Goriot (Le Père Goriot) by Honoré de Balzac

“You give them life; they give you your deathblow. You bring them into the world, and they send you out of it.”

Honoré de Balzac (spoken by Goriot)

Father Goriot (Le Père Goriot), Goriot's last illness, trans. Ellen Marriage (1896)

Portrait of Honoré de Balzac

Goriot warns Rastignac not to marry or have children, in the bitterest phase of his deathbed raving.

Citation: "You give them life; they give you your deathblow. You bring them into the world, and they send you out of it." — Honoré de Balzac, Father Goriot (Le Père Goriot), Goriot's last illness, trans. Ellen Marriage (1896). (id balzac-father-goriot-q6)

Portrait: Honoré de Balzac (1842) detail, Louis-Auguste Bisson, Public domain.

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Quote card: You give them life; they give you your deathblow. You bring them into the world,