Le Père Goriot
by Honoré de Balzac, Nadine Satiat, Philippe Berthier
4mentions
1recommended by
4HN commenters
2010–2017first – last mentioned
25% recommend75% neutral
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There's a set of books I picked right in freshman year that marked me: "Pensées" - Blaise Pascal: It showed me the clarity of thought a human being could have with a brain that functions correctly. Reading this is humbling. It is often reduced to a "theological" book and this is what you often see it described as. "The Prince" - Niccolo Machiavelli: Shrewd but so much more nuanced than what 99%
on “Ask HN: What are your greatest books?” ↗or, as Balzac wrote in his novel Le Père Goriot: behind every great fortune lies a great crime
on “Scott Adams: The Social Network, "The best movie I've ever seen"” ↗The full quote isn't apocryphal. It's from a character in Balzac's Le Père Goriot. Roughly translated: "The secret of great unexplained fortunes is a forgotten crime, because it has been properly executed." The quote isn't really applicable in this case. Everyone reading the article knows how the Sackler family made their money.
on “The Family Making Billions from the Opioid Crisis” ↗"Le secret des grandes fortunes sans cause apparente est un crime oublié, parce qu'il a été proprement fait." Quoted from Le Père Goriot (1835) by Honoré de Balzac
on “Davos billionaires: Oblivious to the coming revolution” ↗