Human life is a sad show, undoubtedly: ugly, heavy and complex. Art has no other end, for people of feeling, than to conjure away the burden and bitterness.

Car la vie humaine est une triste boutique, décidément. – Une chose laide, lourde & compliquée. L'art n'a point d'autre but, pr les gens d'esprit, que d'en escamotter le fardeau & l'amertume.

Gustave Flaubert

More information about this quote

Topic

Purpose of art Art Life The human condition

Author

Gustave Flaubert

Source

Letters of Gustave Flaubert

Medium

Letter

Language

French

Time

1864 1860s 19th century

Occupation

Novelist Writer

From

France Europe

Authentication Score 1

Citation

Flaubert, Gustave. Letter to Amelie Bosquet. July 1864.

Illustrated Quote

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A quote by Gustave Flaubert about purpose of art: “Human life is a sad show, undoubtedly: ugly, heavy and complex. Art has…”
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Related Quotes

Below are one or more quotes that share at least one tag with the quote at the top of the page

Another quote by Gustave Flaubert

We shouldn't maltreat our idols: the gilt comes off on our hands.

Gustave Flaubert

Madame Bovary

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Read Madame Bovary at Project Gutenberg
More information about this quote
Topic
Idols

Author

Gustave Flaubert
Source
Madame Bovary
Medium
Novel
Language
French
Time
1857 1850s 19th century
Authentication Score 2
Original Citation

Flaubert, Gustave. Madame Bovary: Moeurs de Province [Madame Bovary: Provincial Manners]. Revue de Paris, 1 Oct. 1856 - 15 Dec. 1856. Serial.

Current Citation

Flaubert, Gustave. Madame Bovary, edited and translated by Lydia Davis. Penguin Classics, 2011, pt. 3, ch. 6.

Another quote from the 1860s

The strongest of all warriors are these two-Time and Patience.

Leo Tolstoy

War and Peace

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Read War and Peace at Project Gutenberg
More information about this quote
Topic
Time Patience
Speaker
Prince Mikhail Kutúzov

Author

Leo Tolstoy
Source
War and Peace
Medium
Novel
Language
Russian
Time
1869 1860s 19th century
Authentication Score 2
Original Citation

Tolstoy, Leo. "Война и миръ [War and Peace]." The Russian Messenger, 1865-1867. Serial.

Current Citation

Tolstoy, Leo. War and Peace, translated by Louise and Aylmer Maude. Oxford University Press, 2010.

Another quote about The human condition

Sic transit gloria mundi.

More information about this quote
Topic
Impermanence Mortality Vanitas The human condition
Language
Latin
Authentication Score 1
Citation

Papal coronation ceremonies from c. 1409-1963, https://aleteia.org/2019/03/02/sic-transit-gloria-mundi-was-once-a-common-warning-to-new-popes/

Another quote from 1864

If slavery is not wrong, nothing is wrong.

Abraham Lincoln

Read the full text of this speech at umich.edu
More information about this quote
Topic
Slavery

Author

Abraham Lincoln
Source
Letters of Abraham Lincoln
Medium
Letter
Genre
Political speech
Language
English
Time
1864 1860s 19th century
Authentication Score 2
Original Citation

Lincoln, Abraham. Letter to Albert G. Hodges. 4 Apr. 1864.

Current Citation

Lincoln, Abraham. "To Albert G. Hodges, April 4, 1864." Abraham Lincoln: Speeches and Writings 1859-1865, edited by Don E. Fehrenbacher. Library of America, 1989.

Another quote originally in French

If I were asked to name the chief benefit of the house, I should say: the house shelters daydreaming, the house protects the dreamer, the house allows one to dream in peace.

Gaston Bachelard

The Poetics of Space

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More information about this quote
Topic
Houses Home

Author

Gaston Bachelard
Source
The Poetics of Space
Language
French
Time
1958 1950s 20th century
Authentication Score 3
Original Citation

Bachelard, Gaston. La Poetique de l'Espace [The Poetics of Space]. Presses Universitaires de France, 1948, ch. 1.

Current Citation

Bachelard, Gaston. The Poetics of Space, translated by Maria Jolas. Penguin Classics, 2014, ch. 1.