midnight
Thus the exorbitant movement of the proletariat , the corrupting influence of the interests which consume the two middle classes , the cruelties of the artist 's thought , and the excessive pleasure which is sought for incessantly by the great , explain the normal ugliness of the Parisian physiognomy . It is only in the Orient that the human race presents a magnificent figure , but that is an effect of the constant calm affected by those profound philosophers with their long pipes , their short legs , their square contour , who despise and hold activity in horror , whilst in Paris the little and the great and the mediocre run and leap and drive , whipped on by an inexorable goddess , Necessity -- the necessity for money , glory , and amusement . Thus , any face which is fresh and graceful and reposeful , any really young face , is in Paris the most extraordinary of exceptions ; it is met with rarely . Should you see one there , be sure it belongs either to a young and ardent ecclesiastic or to some good abbe of forty with three chins ; to a young girl of pure life such as is brought up in certain middle-class families ; to a mother of twenty , still full of illusions , as she suckles her first-born ; to a young man newly embarked from the provinces , and intrusted to the care of some devout dowager who keeps him without a sou ; or , perhaps , to some shop assistant who goes to bed at midnight wearied out with folding and unfolding calico , and rises at seven o'clock to arrange the window ; often again to some man of science or poetry , who lives monastically in the embrace of a fine idea , who remains sober , patient , and chaste ; else to some self-contented fool , feeding himself on folly , reeking of health , in a perpetual state of absorption with his own smile ; or to the soft and happy race of loungers , the only folk really happy in Paris , which unfolds for them hour by hour its moving poetry . Nevertheless , there is in Paris a proportion of privileged beings to whom this excessive movement of industries , interests , affairs , arts , and gold is profitable . These beings are women . Although they also have a thousand secret causes which , here more than elsewhere , destroy their physiognomy , there are to be found in the feminine world little happy colonies , who live in Oriental fashion and can preserve their beauty ; but these women rarely show themselves on foot in the streets , they lie hid like rare plants who only unfold their petals at certain hours , and constitute veritable exotic exceptions .