What a heavy oar the pen is, and what a strong current ideas are to row in.

Quel lourd aviron qu’une plume & combien l’idée quand il la faut creuser avec, est un dur courant

Gustave Flaubert

More information about this quote

Topic

Challenges of writing Writing

Author

Gustave Flaubert

Source

Letters of Gustave Flaubert

Medium

Letter

Statement Type

Metaphor, analogy and simile

Language

French

Time

1851 1850s 19th century

Occupation

Novelist Writer

From

France Europe

Authentication Score 3

Original Citation

Flaubert, Gustave. Letter to Louise Colet. 23 Oct. 1851.

Current Citation

Flaubert, Gustave. The Letters of Gustave Flaubert 1830-1857, translated and edited by Francis Steegmuller. Faber and Faber, 1981.

Illustrated Quote

A quote by Gustave Flaubert about challenges of writing: “What a heavy oar the pen is, and what a strong current ideas are…”
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A quote by Gustave Flaubert about challenges of writing: “What a heavy oar the pen is, and what a strong current ideas are…”
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A quote by Gustave Flaubert about challenges of writing: “What a heavy oar the pen is, and what a strong current ideas are…”
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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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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 1850s

Justice is truth in action.

Benjamin Disraeli

More information about this quote
Topic
Justice
Speaker
Benjamin Disraeli
Source
Speeches of Benjamin Disraeli
Medium
Speech
Genre
Political speech
Statement Type
Proverbs, aphorisms and adages
Language
English
Time
1851 1850s 19th century
Authentication Score 3
Citation

Disraeli, Benjamin. Address on agricultural distress. House of Commons. 11 Feb. 1851, The Palace of Westminster, London, England, UK.

Another quote about Writing

I asked him one time what type of writing brought the most money and the agent says, "Ransom notes."

Elmore Leonard

Get Shorty (novel)

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More information about this quote
Topic
Writing
Speaker
Harry Zimm

Author

Elmore Leonard
Source
Get Shorty (novel)
Medium
Novel
Statement Type
Joke
Language
English
Time
1990 1990s 20th century
Authentication Score 3
Citation

Leonard, Elmore. Get Shorty. Delacorte Press, 1990, ch. 9.

Another quote originally in French

Truly man is a marvelously vain, diverse, and undulating object. It is hard to found any constant and uniform judgement on him.

Michel de Montaigne

Essays

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More information about this quote
Topic
Contradictory nature of man Nature of man

Author

Michel de Montaigne
Source
That Men by Various Means Arrive at the Same End Essays
Medium
Essay
Language
French
Time
1580 1580s 16th century
Authentication Score 2
Original Citation

De Montaigne, Michel. "Par Divers Moyens On Arrive a Pareille Fin [That Men by Various Means Arrive at the Same End]." Essais [Essays]. Paris: Simon Millanges and Jean Richer, 1580.

Current Citation

De Montaigne, Michel. "We Reach the Same End by Discrepant Means." The Complete Essays, edited and translated by M. A. Screech. Penguin Classics, 1993.

Another quote of the following type Metaphor, analogy and simile

The pen is mightier than the sword.

Edward Bulwer-Lytton

More information about this quote
Topic
Power of literature
Speaker
Cardinal Richelieu

Author

Edward Bulwer-Lytton
Source
Richelieu
Medium
Play
Genre
History play
Statement Type
Metaphor, analogy and simile
Language
English
Time
1839 1830s 19th century
Authentication Score 3
Citation

Bulwer-Lytton, Edward. Richelieu; Or the Conspiracy. 7 Mar. 1839, Theatre Royal, Covent Garden, London, England, UK, act 2, sc. 2.