There are neither good nor bad subjects. From the point of view of pure Art, you could almost establish it as an axiom that the subject is irrelevant, style itself being an absolute manner of seeing things.

Quote by Gustave Flaubert

Topics: Gustave Flaubert Quotes

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...

One arrives at style only with atrocious effort, with fanatical and devoted stubbornness.

One arrives at style only with atrocious effort, with fanatical and devoted stubbornness.

What an elder sees sitting; the young can't see standing.

What an elder sees sitting; the young can't see standing.

One mustn't always believe that feeling is everything. In the arts, it is nothing without...

One mustn't always believe that feeling is everything. In the arts, it is nothing without...

Exuberance is better than taste.

Exuberance is better than taste.

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.

Of all lies, art is the least untrue.

Of all lies, art is the least untrue.

To be stupid, selfish, and have good health are three requirements for happiness, though if...

To be stupid, selfish, and have good health are three requirements for happiness, though if...

The only way to avoid being unhappy is to close yourself up in Art and...

The only way to avoid being unhappy is to close yourself up in Art and...

Here is true immorality: ignorance and stupidity; the devil is nothing but this. His name...

Here is true immorality: ignorance and stupidity; the devil is nothing but this. His name...

Everything one invents is true, you may be perfectly sure of that. Poetry is as...

Everything one invents is true, you may be perfectly sure of that. Poetry is as...

Poetry is as precise a thing as geometry.

Poetry is as precise a thing as geometry.

The future is the worst thing about the present.

The future is the worst thing about the present.

The heart, like the stomach, wants a varied diet.

The heart, like the stomach, wants a varied diet.

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.

I hate that which we have decided to call realism, even though I have been...

I hate that which we have decided to call realism, even though I have been...

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...

Do not read, as children do, to amuse yourself, or like the ambitious, for the...

Do not read, as children do, to amuse yourself, or like the ambitious, for the...

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.

I believe that if one always looked at the skies, one would end up with...

I believe that if one always looked at the skies, one would end up with...