halting-gait

Updated: May 25, 2025

Every man who is cursed with some bodily infirmity, no matter what it is, club-feet, a halting-gait, a humped-back, excessive ugliness, claret stains upon the cheek, Roguin's species of deformity, and other monstrosities the result of causes beyond the control of the sufferer, has but two courses open to him: either he must make himself feared, or he must practise the virtues of exquisite loving-kindness; he is not permitted to float in the middle currents of average conduct which are habitual to other men.

Honoré de Balzac - Rise and Fall of Cesar Birotteau