694 Quotes by Gustave Flaubert

The finest works of art are those in which there is the least matter. The closer expression comes to thought, the more the word clings to the idea and disappears, the more beautiful the work of art.

Print: to see one's name in print! - Some people commit a crime for no other reason

What I would like to write is a book about nothing, a book without exterior attachments, which would be held together by the innerforce of its style, as the earth without support is held in the air--a book that would have almost no subject or at least in which the subject would be almost invisible.

For him the universe did not extend beyond the circumference of her petticoat.

Stupidity consists in wanting to reach conclusions. We are a thread, and we want to know the whole cloth.

You must not think that feeling is everything. . . . Art is nothing without form.

Only three things are infinite. The sky in its stars, the sea in its drops of water, and the heart in its tears.

Talent is nothing but long patience.

By dint of railing at idiots you run the risk of becoming idiotic yourself