Observations placeholder
Balzac, Honoré de - The Exiles - The poor lad thinks himself an angel exiled from heaven
Identifier
027949
Type of Spiritual Experience
Background
Cosmic Consciousness, by Richard Maurice Bucke, [1901] - CHAPTER 12. Honoré de Balzac.
Balzac put the following words into the mouth of Dante, who he tells us was a "Specialist." Balzac was himself a "Specialist." The words will therefore apply as well to him as to Dante:
A description of the experience
Balzac, Honoré de - The Exiles
And so that poor lad thinks himself an angel exiled from heaven.
Who among us has the right to undeceive him?
Is it I? I who am so often lifted above this earth by magic power; I who belong to God; I who am to myself a mystery?
Have I not seen the most beautiful of all angels living on this base earth?
Is the lad either more or less beside himself than I am?
Has he taken a bolder step into faith?
He believes; his belief will doubtless lead him into some luminous path like that in which I walk.