Language is a cracked kettle on which we beat out tunes for bears to dance to, while all the time we long to move the stars to pity.

Quote by Gustave Flaubert

Topics: Gustave Flaubert Quotes

There is no truth. There is only perception.

There is no truth. There is only perception.

The more humanity advances, the more it is degraded.

The more humanity advances, the more it is degraded.

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.

One must always hope when one is desperate, and doubt when one hopes.

One must always hope when one is desperate, and doubt when one hopes.

Books are made not like children but like pyramids and they're just as useless! And...

Books are made not like children but like pyramids and they're just as useless! And...

When our eyes see our hands doing the work of our hearts, the circle of...

When our eyes see our hands doing the work of our hearts, the circle of...

I have the handicap of being born with a special language to which I alone...

I have the handicap of being born with a special language to which I alone...

One never tires of what is well written, style is life! It is the very...

One never tires of what is well written, style is life! It is the very...

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.

A memory is a beautiful thing, it's almost a desire that you miss.

A memory is a beautiful thing, it's almost a desire that you miss.

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,...

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.

The better a work is, the more it attracts criticism; it is like the fleas...

The better a work is, the more it attracts criticism; it is like the fleas...

In the dark room a cloud of yellow dust flew from beneath the tool like...

In the dark room a cloud of yellow dust flew from beneath the tool like...

She (Madame Bovary) had that indefinable beauty that comes from happiness, enthusiasm, success - a...

She (Madame Bovary) had that indefinable beauty that comes from happiness, enthusiasm, success - a...

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.

The art of writing is the art of discovering what you believe.

The art of writing is the art of discovering what you believe.

As a rule we disbelieve all the facts and theories for which we have no...

As a rule we disbelieve all the facts and theories for which we have no...

I have come to have the firm conviction that vanity is the basis of everything,...

I have come to have the firm conviction that vanity is the basis of everything,...

The deplorable mania of doubt exhausts me. I doubt about everything, even my doubts.

The deplorable mania of doubt exhausts me. I doubt about everything, even my doubts.