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Gustave Flaubert

Thursday 5th of March 2026

Bourgeoisie There isn't a bourgeois alive who in the ferment of his youth, if only for a day or for a minute, hasn't thought himself capable of boundless passions and noble exploits. The sorriest little woman-chaser has dreamed or Oriental queens; in a corner of every notary's heart lie the moldy remains of a poet. Gustave Flaubert, Madame Bovary Trans. by Francis Steegmuller © 2016 Kwiple.com
Drugs HASHEESH. Do not confuse with hash, which produces no voluptuous sensations whatever. Gustave Flaubert, Dictionary of Accepted Ideas Trans. by Jacques Barzun © 2016 Kwiple.com
Language … the more flowery a person's speech, he [Rodolphe Boulanger] thought, the more suspect the feelings, or lack of feelings, it concealed. Whereas the truth is that fullness of soul can sometimes overflow in utter vapidity of language, for none of us can ever express the exact measure of his needs or his thoughts or his sorrows; and human speech is like a cracked kettle on which we tap crude rhythms for bears to dance to, while we long to make music that will melt the stars. Gustave Flaubert, Madame Bovary Trans. by Francis Steegmuller © 2016 Kwiple.com
Selfie The day I stop being indignant I'll have nothing left to live for. Gustave Flaubert, letter to George Sand, about June 15, 1867 Trans. by Francis Steegmuller © 2016 Kwiple.com
Sex Good Lord—what does it matter whether one copulates or doesn't copulate? Gustave Flaubert, letter to Paul Alexis, December 8, 1879 Trans. by Francis Steegmuller © 2016 Kwiple.com
Snapshot His aim was the emancipation of the arts, the sublime at a reasonable price. Jacques Arnoux portrayed by Gustave Flaubert in A Sentimental Education Trans. by Robert Baldick © 2016 Kwiple.com
Snapshot But her  life was as cold as an attic facing north; and boredom, like a silent spider, was weaving its web in the shadows, in every corner of her heart. Emma Bovary portrayed by Gustave Flaubert in Madame Bovary Trans. by Francis Steegmuller © 2016 Kwiple.com
Snapshot Poor little thing! She's grasping for love like a carp on a kitchen table grasping for water. Emma Bovary portrayed by Rodolphe Boulanger in Gustave Flaubert's Madame Bovary Trans. by Francis Steegmuller © 2016 Kwiple.com
Wealth WEALTH. Substitute for everything, including reputation. Gustave Flaubert, Dictionary of Accepted Ideas Trans. by Jacques Barzun © 2016 Kwiple.com
 
Women NEGRESSES. Hotter than white women. Gustave Flaubert, Dictionary of Accepted Ideas Trans. by Jacques Barzun © 2016 Kwiple.com