« Les dettes sont jolies chez les jeunes gens de vingt-cinq ans ; plus tard, personne ne les pardonne »

The expression Les dettes sont jolies chez les jeunes gens de vingt-cinq ans ; plus tard, personne ne les pardonne presents youthful debt as temporarily charming and later unforgivable. In the novel, it is not merely a joke about age: it gives a jaunty rule to Lucien de Rubempré’s spending just as his finances begin to collapse, turning the casual talk of the viveurs into a measure of his misjudgment.

Meaning and Use

The saying treats debt as a kind of social indulgence granted to the young, one that expires with time. Its playful tone makes borrowing sound harmless, while the warning in its second half points toward the reckoning that will come when indulgence is no longer excused. Lucien has already adopted this “jurisprudence” of the viveurs: the language of a settled code lets him treat debt as a customary feature of pleasure rather than a danger demanding restraint.

Lucien’s Financial Circumstances

The aphorism appears against a swift depletion of money. The 1,500 francs remaining from the sale of Les Marguerites, along with Lucien’s first 500 francs in earnings, are quickly spent. In three months, his articles bring him little more than 1,000 francs, although he believes he has worked enormously. He and Coralie accumulate debts at an alarming rate; Coralie, after encouraging his amusements, repeatedly reminds him to work and not to forget how little he has earned that month.

Irony and Consequence

The expression’s easy confidence clashes with the novel’s account of Lucien’s weakening will. He makes strong resolutions when he glimpses his situation clearly, but his habitual dissipation erodes them until even severe poverty can no longer rouse him to action. The saying thus reveals more than a youthful attitude toward borrowing: it belongs to a circle whose members have different resources and prospects, while Lucien fails to distinguish their circumstances from his own. Its humor becomes an early sign of the costly distance between the life he assumes he can afford and the one his earnings support.