--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: There is something noble as well as…" description: "\"“There is something noble as well as terrible about suicide. The downfall of many men is not dangerous, for they fall like children, too near the groun..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6a7/honor-de-balzac-197_balzac_there-is-something-noble-as-well-as-terr_2721938.png" --- # There is something noble as well as terrible about… ![“There is something noble as well as terrible about suicide. The downfall of many men is not dangerous, for they fall like children, too near the ground to do themselves harm. But when a great man breaks, he has soared up to the heavens, espied some inaccessible paradise, and then fallen from a…” quote by Honoré de Balzac](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6a7/honor-de-balzac-197_balzac_there-is-something-noble-as-well-as-terr_2721938.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6a7/honor-de-balzac-197_balzac_there-is-something-noble-as-well-as-terr_2721938.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6a7/honor-de-balzac-197_balzac_there-is-something-noble-as-well-as-terr_2721938.png) > ““There is something noble as well as terrible about suicide. The downfall of many men is not dangerous, for they fall like children, too near the ground to do themselves harm. But when a great man breaks, he has soared up to the heavens, espied some inaccessible paradise, and then fallen from a great height. The forces that make him seek peace from the barrel of a gun cannot be placated. How many young talents confined to an attic room wither and perish for lack of a friend, a consoling wife, alone in the midst of a million fellow humans, while throngs of people weary of gold are bored with their possessions.”” [Honoré de Balzac](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/honor-de-balzac/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The quote reflects on the tragic paradox of suicide, especially among great individuals whose lofty ambitions make their fall more devastating, and laments societal neglect of vulnerable talent. **In simple terms:** Great people’s fall feels more tragic; society often ignores struggling talent. Key Takeaway Recognize and support those in despair before they fall. Themes suicide loneliness societal neglect ambition mental health Mood melancholic reflective Type literary philosophical When to use this quote - creative professionals - students - isolated individuals - high achievers Key Concepts existential despair social isolation psychological pressure Questions to Reflect On - How can we create supportive networks for isolated talent? - What societal changes reduce the allure of self-destruction? A Different Perspective Even great talent can be lost without community support. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Balzac](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/balzac/) [Children](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/children/) [Dangerous Fall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dangerous-fall-2595119/) [Great man](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/great-man/) [Men Dangerous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/men-dangerous-713958/) [Nature of man](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nature-of-man/) [Suicide](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/suicide/) [Suicide Downfall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/suicide-downfall-2889015/) [Terrible Suicide](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/terrible-suicide-2742631/) [Young talent](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/young-talent/) ## Related quotes > [I like to think in an emergency situation, I'd act in a really brave way. 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Suicide will have seemed to its perpetrator the last and best of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kay-redfield-jamison/each-way-to-suicide-is-its-own-intensely-private-unknowable-and/) [Kay Redfield Jamison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kay-redfield-jamison/) > [There is something great and terrible about suicide.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/honor-de-balzac/there-is-something-great-and-terrible-about-suicide/) [Honore de Balzac](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/honor-de-balzac/) > [“Surely a man must be in a parlours state to excite pity, extremely weak to inspire sympathy, or very evil-looking to make a soul…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/honor-de-balzac/surely-a-man-must-be-in-a-parlours-state-to-excite-pity-extremely/) [Honoré de Balzac](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/honor-de-balzac/) > [“He looked like some plant bleached by darkness.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/honor-de-balzac/he-looked-like-some-plant-bleached-by-darkness/) [Honoré de Balzac](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/honor-de-balzac/) > [“Journalism, look you, is the religion of modern society.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/honor-de-balzac/journalism-look-you-is-the-religion-of-modern-society/) [Honoré de Balzac](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/honor-de-balzac/) > [“Ha a nők elmésnek, tehetségesnek találják, a férfiak el fogják hinni, hogy az, hacsak maga ki nem ábrándítja őket. Akkor aztán mindent akarhat, mindenütt…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/honor-de-balzac/ha-a-n-k-elm-snek-tehets-gesnek-tal-lj-k-a-f-rfiak-el-fogj-k-hinni/) [Honoré de Balzac](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/honor-de-balzac/) > [Let me have men about me that are fat, Sleek-headed-men, and such as sleep o'nights; Yond Cassius has a lean and hungry look; he…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/let-me-have-men-about-me-that-are-fat-sleek-headed-men-and-such-as/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“Cassius has a lean and hungry look;      He thinks too much. Such men are dangerous.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/cassius-has-a-lean-and-hungry-look-he-thinks-too-much-such-men-are/) [William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/) > [“It was politics and religion, in van Dyck’s private view, that made men dangerous. Trade made them wise.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-rutherfurd/it-was-politics-and-religion-in-van-dyck-s-private-view-that-made-men/) [Edward Rutherfurd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-rutherfurd/) > [Let me have men about me that are fat... Yond Cassius has a lean and hungry look. He thinks too much: such men are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/let-me-have-men-about-me-that-are-fat-yond-cassius-has-a-lean-and/) [William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/) > [He thinks too much. Such men are dangerous.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/he-thinks-too-much-such-men-are-dangerous/) [William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/) > [“He had seen many criminals in his years in Division. Dangerous men and even more dangerous women. Small-time hucksters and savvy crime lords. Spies,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/g-s-jennsen/he-had-seen-many-criminals-in-his-years-in-division-dangerous-men-and/) [G.S. Jennsen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/g-s-jennsen/) > [“The main thing that gets us men into dangerous situations is, well, ourselves. It's the belief, cherished in the heart of every man in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-borgenicht/the-main-thing-that-gets-us-men-into-dangerous-situations-is-well/) [David Borgenicht](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-borgenicht/) > [Intelligent men are dangerous.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patricia-briggs/intelligent-men-are-dangerous/) [Patricia Briggs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patricia-briggs/) ## More by Honoré de Balzac > [“Oh, my friend, when you love, love a woman whom you are sure that you can love always. Never forsake a woman.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/honor-de-balzac/oh-my-friend-when-you-love-love-a-woman-whom-you-are-sure-that-you/) [Honoré de Balzac](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/honor-de-balzac/) > [“You have broken the ice, though you have not even scratched its glossy surface: you have placed your hand upon the croup of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/honor-de-balzac/you-have-broken-the-ice-though-you-have-not-even-scratched-its-glossy/) [Honoré de Balzac](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/honor-de-balzac/) > [In a world of hunchbacks, a fine figure becomes a monstrosity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/honor-de-balzac/in-a-world-of-hunchbacks-a-fine-figure-becomes-a-monstrosity/) [Honore de Balzac](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/honor-de-balzac/) > [It is quite right what they say: the three most beautiful sights in the world are a ship in full sail, a galloping horse,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/honor-de-balzac/it-is-quite-right-what-they-say-the-three-most-beautiful-sights-in/) [Honore de Balzac](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/honor-de-balzac/) > [My writing table has seen all my wretchedness, knows all my plans, has overheard all my thoughts.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/honor-de-balzac/my-writing-table-has-seen-all-my-wretchedness-knows-all-my-plans-has/) [Honore de Balzac](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/honor-de-balzac/) > [Foppery, being the chronic condition of women, is not so much noticed as it is when it breaks out on the person of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/honor-de-balzac/foppery-being-the-chronic-condition-of-women-is-not-so-much-noticed/) [Honore de Balzac](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/honor-de-balzac/) > [A married woman is a slave you must know how to seat upon a throne.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/honor-de-balzac/a-married-woman-is-a-slave-you-must-know-how-to-seat-upon-a-throne/) [Honore de Balzac](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/honor-de-balzac/) > [Rich men are resolved to be astonished at nothing. When they see a masterpiece, they must needs at one glance recognize some flaw to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/honor-de-balzac/rich-men-are-resolved-to-be-astonished-at-nothing-when-they-see-a/) [Honore de Balzac](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/honor-de-balzac/) > [I am a galley slave to pen and ink.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/honor-de-balzac/i-am-a-galley-slave-to-pen-and-ink/) [Honore de Balzac](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/honor-de-balzac/) > [One can imagine the look the two lovers exchanged; it was like a flame, for virtuous lovers have not a shred of hypocrisy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/honor-de-balzac/one-can-imagine-the-look-the-two-lovers-exchanged-it-was-like-a-flame/) [Honore de Balzac](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/honor-de-balzac/) > [White and shining virgin of all human virtues, ark of the covenant between earth and heaven, tender and strong companion partaking of the lion…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/honor-de-balzac/white-and-shining-virgin-of-all-human-virtues-ark-of-the-covenant/) [Honore de Balzac](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/honor-de-balzac/) > [All men can bear a familiar, definite misfortune better than the cruel alternations of a fate which, from one moment to another, brings excessive…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/honor-de-balzac/all-men-can-bear-a-familiar-definite-misfortune-better-than-the-cruel/) [Honore de Balzac](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/honor-de-balzac/) > [The mind, too, has its regimen. It needs gymnastics, just like the body does.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/honor-de-balzac/the-mind-too-has-its-regimen-it-needs-gymnastics-just-like-the-body/) [Honore de Balzac](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/honor-de-balzac/) > [Hatred like love feeds on the merest trifles. Everything adds to it. Just as the being we love can do no wrong, so the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/honor-de-balzac/hatred-like-love-feeds-on-the-merest-trifles-everything-adds-to-it/) [Honore de Balzac](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/honor-de-balzac/) > [All human power is a compound of time and patience.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/honor-de-balzac/all-human-power-is-a-compound-of-time-and-patience/) [Honore de Balzac](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/honor-de-balzac/) [Explore all 793 Honoré de Balzac quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/honor-de-balzac/) ## More Balzac quotes > [ I have learned more \[from Balzac\] than from all the professional historians, economists, and statisticians put together. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-engels/i-have-learned-more-from-balzac-than-from-all-the-professional/) [Friedrich Engels](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-engels/) > [Translators who choose to work on canonized writers can usually lean on an extensive critical apparatus around either the author or the book in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andre-naffis-sahely/translators-who-choose-to-work-on-canonized-writers-can-usually-lean/) [Andre Naffis-Sahely](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andre-naffis-sahely/) > [“When Balzac was working, his writing schedule was brutal: He ate a light dinner at 6:00 P.M., then went to bed. At 1:00 A.M.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mason-currey/when-balzac-was-working-his-writing-schedule-was-brutal-he-ate-a/) [Mason Currey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mason-currey/) > [My film is actually very critical of the level of French we're using back home. To have an immigrant from an ancient French colony…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philippe-falardeau/my-film-is-actually-very-critical-of-the-level-of-french-we-re-using/) [Philippe Falardeau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philippe-falardeau/) > [“I'm the next fucking Balzac. What about Proust?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/m-pierce/i-m-the-next-fucking-balzac-what-about-proust/) [M. Pierce](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/m-pierce/) > [“Balzac was pretty funny. His philosophy is plain and simple, says basically that pure materialism is a recipe for madness. The only true knowledge…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-dylan/balzac-was-pretty-funny-his-philosophy-is-plain-and-simple-says/) [Bob Dylan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-dylan/) > [It is scarcely exaggeration to say that if one is not a little mad about Balzac at twenty, one will never live; and if…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/willa-cather/it-is-scarcely-exaggeration-to-say-that-if-one-is-not-a-little-mad/) [Willa Cather](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/willa-cather/) > [“Behind every great fortune lies a great crime. —HONORÉ DE BALZAC”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-silva/behind-every-great-fortune-lies-a-great-crime-honor-de-balzac/) [Daniel Silva](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniel-silva/) > [Thackeray and Balzac will make it possible for our descendants to live over again the England and France of to-day. Seen in this light,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-gilbert-hamerton/thackeray-and-balzac-will-make-it-possible-for-our-descendants-to/) [Philip Gilbert Hamerton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-gilbert-hamerton/) > [Balzac, you know, our great Balzac, he wrote interesting things about how in literature you keep distance in order to express great feelings. You…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isabelle-huppert/balzac-you-know-our-great-balzac-he-wrote-interesting-things-about/) [Isabelle Huppert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isabelle-huppert/) > [“Ha a nők elmésnek, tehetségesnek találják, a férfiak el fogják hinni, hogy az, hacsak maga ki nem ábrándítja őket. Akkor aztán mindent akarhat, mindenütt…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/honor-de-balzac/ha-a-n-k-elm-snek-tehets-gesnek-tal-lj-k-a-f-rfiak-el-fogj-k-hinni/) [Honoré de Balzac](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/honor-de-balzac/) > [All the critics who could not make their reputations by discovering you are hoping to make them by predicting hopefully your approaching impotence, failure…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-hemingway/all-the-critics-who-could-not-make-their-reputations-by-discovering/) [Ernest Hemingway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-hemingway/) > [“Être aimé d'elle, ou mourir.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/balzac/tre-aim-d-elle-ou-mourir/) [Balzac](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/balzac/) > [“Behind every great fortune there is a crime. —BALZAC”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/behind-every-great-fortune-there-is-a-crime-balzac/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“I belong to the opposition party, which is called life.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/i-belong-to-the-opposition-party-which-is-called-life/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) [Browse all 33 Balzac quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/balzac/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“There is something noble as well as terrible about suicide. The downfall of many men is not dangerous, for they fall like children, too near the ground to do themselves harm. But when a great man breaks, he has soared up to the heavens, espied some inaccessible paradise, and then fallen from a great height. The forces that make him seek peace from the barrel of a gun cannot be placated. 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