One mustn't look at the abyss, because there is at the bottom an inexpressible charm which attracts us.

Quote by Gustave Flaubert

Topics: Gustave Flaubert Quotes

Language is a cracked kettle on which we beat out tunes for bears to dance...

Language is a cracked kettle on which we beat out tunes for bears to dance...

Artists who seek perfection in everything are those who cannot attain it in anything.

Artists who seek perfection in everything are those who cannot attain it in anything.

Be regular and orderly in your life, so that you may be violent and original...

Be regular and orderly in your life, so that you may be violent and original...

Success is a consequence and must not be a goal.

Success is a consequence and must not be a goal.

Of all possible debauches, traveling is the greatest that I know; that's the one they...

Of all possible debauches, traveling is the greatest that I know; that's the one they...

The cult of art gives pride; one never has too much of it.

The cult of art gives pride; one never has too much of it.

Earth has its boundaries, but human stupidity is limitless.

Earth has its boundaries, but human stupidity is limitless.

There are neither good nor bad subjects. From the point of view of pure Art,...

There are neither good nor bad subjects. From the point of view of pure Art,...

Woman is a vulgar animal from whom man has created an excessively beautiful ideal.

Woman is a vulgar animal from whom man has created an excessively beautiful ideal.

The author, in his work, must be like God in the Universe, present everywhere and...

The author, in his work, must be like God in the Universe, present everywhere and...

Exuberance is better than taste.

Exuberance is better than taste.

I am a man-pen. I feel through the pen, because of the pen.

I am a man-pen. I feel through the pen, because of the pen.

One can be the master of what one does, but never of what one feels.

One can be the master of what one does, but never of what one feels.

The more humanity advances, the more it is degraded.

The more humanity advances, the more it is degraded.

Language is a cracked kettle on which we beat out tunes for bears to dance...

Language is a cracked kettle on which we beat out tunes for bears to dance...

Of all lies, art is the least untrue.

Of all lies, art is the least untrue.

Writing is a dog's life, but the only life worth living.

Writing is a dog's life, but the only life worth living.

Art requires neither complaisance nor politeness; nothing but faith, faith and freedom.

Art requires neither complaisance nor politeness; nothing but faith, faith and freedom.

A superhuman will is needed in order to write, and I am only a man.

A superhuman will is needed in order to write, and I am only a man.

Nothing is more humiliating than to see idiots succeed in enterprises we have failed in.

Nothing is more humiliating than to see idiots succeed in enterprises we have failed in.