694 Quotes by Gustave Flaubert

Prima di sposarsi, Emma aveva creduto d'amare; ma la felicità che avrebbe dovuto nascere dal quell'amore non era venuta, e pensava che doveva essersi sbagliata. Ella cercava ora, di sapere che cosa volessero esattamente dire, nella vita, le parole felicità, passione ed ebbrezza, che le erano sembrate tanto belle, lette nei libri

Abituata alla tranquillità, desiderava per contrasto tutto ciò che era movimentato. Amava il mare soltanto per le sue tempeste, e la vegetazione soltanto se cresceva a stento e rada in mezzo alle rovine.

First he anointed her eyes, once so covetous of all earthly luxuries; then her nostrils, so gluttonous of caressing breezes and amorous scents; then her mouth, so prompt to lie, so defiant in pride, so loud in lust; then her hands that had thrilled to voluptuous contacts; and finally the soles of her feet, once so swift when she had hastened to slake her desires, and now never to walk again.

In her enthusiasms she had always looked for something tangible: she had loved the church for its flowers, music for its romantic words, literature for its power to stir the passions...

Love, that marvelous thing which had hitherto been like a great rosy-plumaged bird soaring in the splendors of poetic skies, was at last within her grasp.

This man could teach you nothing; he knew nothing, he wished for nothing. He took it for granted that she was content; and she resented his settled calm, his serene dullness, the very happiness she herself brought to him.

My God is the God of Socrates, of Franklin, of Voltaire, of Beranger! My credo is the credo of Rousseau!

¿Dónde encontrar, en efecto, más patriotismo que en el campo, más entrega a la causa pública, más inteligencia, en una palabra?

Esta prohibición de verla era para él como un derecho a amarla.