Reality does not conform to the ideal but confirms it.
— Gustave Flaubert
Famous Quotes
Without ideality, there is no grandeur; without grandeur there is no beauty. Olympus is a mountain. The most effective monument will always be the Pyramids. Exuberance is better than taste; the desert is better than a streetpavement, and a savage is surely better than a hairdresser!
— Gustave Flaubert
Creativity
For some men, the stronger their desire, the more difficult it is for them to act. They are hampered by mistrust of themselves, daunted by the fear of giving offence; besides, deep feelings of affection are like respectable women; they are afraid of being found out and they go through life with downcast eyes.
He is so corrupt that he would willingly pay for the pleasure of selling himself.
What is beautiful is moral, that is all there is to it.
There is no 'true'. There are merely ways of perceiving truth.
— Gustave Flaubert
Philosophy
One must not always think that feeling is everything. Art is nothing without form. (12 August 1846)
To be stupid, selfish, and have good health are three requirements for happiness, though if stupidity is lacking, all is lost. (13 August 1846)
— Gustave Flaubert
Happiness
One becomes a critic when one cannot be an artist, just as a man becomes a stool pigeon when he cannot be a soldier. (22 October 1846)