Quotes from Gustave Flaubert

one's duty is to feel what is great, cherish the beautiful, and not accept all the conventions of society with the ignominy that it imposes upon us

A man so habituated to corruption that he would happily pay for the pleasure of selling himself.

Is it splendid, or stupid, to take life seriously?

I wouldn't mind a bit seeing all civilization crumble like a mason's scaffolding before the building was finished--

Como si la plenitud del alma no se desborda algunas veces en las metáforas más vacías

The head-master made a sign to us to sit down. Then, turning to the class-master, he said to him in a low voice—

I like snow and roses, calm and storm; I like to love, I like to hate. Every contradiction, every absurdity, every folly–I harbor them all.

Be selfish, stupid and have good health. But if stupidity is lacking, then all is lost. Flaubert's dictum for getting through life unscathed.

Have you ever had the experience of finding in a book some vague idea that's already occurred to you, some obscure image that comes back to you from the depths of your mind, or a perfect expression of your most subtle feelings?

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

Quelle bassesse que de penser toujours au prolongement de son existence! La vie n'est bonne qu'à la condition d'en jouir. (ch. III)

I feel torn to pieces by a rage of love.

Ce qu'il ne comprenait pas, c'était tout ce trouble dans une chose aussi simple que l'amour.

She confused in her desire the sensualities of luxury with the delights of the heart, elegance of manners with delicacy of sentiment. Did not love, like Indian plants, need a special soil

However, all this reading had disturbed their brains.

Then a faintness came over her; she recalled the Viscount who had waltzed with her at Vaubyessard, and his beard exhaled like this air an odour of vanilla and citron, and mechanically she half-closed her eyes the better to breathe it in. But

Il voulait qu'elle se donnât, et non la prendre.

De liefde, meende zij, moest plotseling komen, met donder en bliksem -als een orkaan uit de hemel, die het leven overvalt, het omverwerpt, ieders wil als blaadjes van de bomen rukt en het hart volledig in de afgrond stort. Zij wist niet dat de regen plassen vormt op het plat van de huizen als de goten zijn verstopt; en zij zou zich dan ook nergens zorgen om hebben gemaakt, als zij niet plotseling een scheur in de muur had ontdekt.

Even at table she would bring her book, leafing through the pages while Charles ate and talked to her. The memory of the Vicomte always recurred in her reading. She drew comparisons between him and the invented characters. But little by little the circle whose centre he occupied widened around him, and that halo of glory he wore, straying from his face, spread itself further off, to illuminate other dreams.

Het was een van die zuivere gevoelens die het normale leven niet verstoren, die men koestert omdat ze zeldzaam zijn en waarvan het verlies dieper zou kwetsen dan dat het bezit voldoening schenkt.

Cuidado con la tristeza. Es un vicio.

The more ideas they had the more they suffered.

Ama l'arte; fra tutte le menzogne è ancora quella che mente di meno.

Jamais elle n'avait eu tant d'estime pour elle-même ni tant de mépris pour les autres. Quelque chose de belliqueux la transportait. Elle aurait voulu battre les hommes, leur cracher au visage, les broyer tous.