Our ignorance of history causes us to slander our own times.

Quote by Gustave Flaubert

Topics: Gustave Flaubert Quotes

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

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

The faster the word sticks to the thought, the more beautiful is the effect.

The faster the word sticks to the thought, the more beautiful is the effect.

Style is as much under the words as in the words. It is as much...

Style is as much under the words as in the words. It is as much...

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...

You can calculate the worth of a man by the number of his enemies, and...

You can calculate the worth of a man by the number of his enemies, and...

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

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

Oh, if I had been loved at the age of seventeen, what an idiot I...

Oh, if I had been loved at the age of seventeen, what an idiot I...

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

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

There is no truth. There is only perception.

There is no truth. There is only perception.

Success is a consequence and must not be a goal.

Success is a consequence and must not be a goal.

Madame Bovary is myself.

Madame Bovary is myself.

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.

A friend who dies, it's something of you who dies.

A friend who dies, it's something of you who dies.

Judge the goodness of a book by the energy of the punches it has given...

Judge the goodness of a book by the energy of the punches it has given...

I go from exasperation to a state of collapse, then I recover and go from...

I go from exasperation to a state of collapse, then I recover and go from...

Doubtis an illness that comes from knowledge and leads to madness.

Doubtis an illness that comes from knowledge and leads to madness.

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.

What is the beautiful, if not the impossible.

What is the beautiful, if not the impossible.

Anything becomes interesting if you look at it long enough.

Anything becomes interesting if you look at it long enough.

The artist must be in his work as God is in creation, invisible and all-powerful;...

The artist must be in his work as God is in creation, invisible and all-powerful;...