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

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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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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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

See many skies and seas.

Gustave Flaubert

More information about this quote
Topic
Broadening one's horizons Travel

Author

Gustave Flaubert
Source
Letters of Gustave Flaubert
Medium
Letter
Statement Type
Advice
Language
French
Time
1857 1850s 19th century
Authentication Score 1
Citation

Flaubert, Gustave. Letter to Mademoiselle Leroyer de Chantepie. c. 1840.

Another quote from the 1860s

England is the mother of parliaments.

John Bright

Speech in Birmingham, January 18, 1865

More information about this quote
Topic
England Government
Speaker
John Bright
Source
Speech in Birmingham, January 18, 1865
Medium
Speech
Genre
Political speech
Language
English
Time
1865 1860s 19th century
Authentication Score 3
Citation

Bright, John. Speech in Birmingham. 18 Jan. 1865, Town Hall, Birmingham, England, UK.

Another quote about Life

One can live for years sometimes, without living at all, and then all life comes crowding into a single hour.

Oscar Wilde

More information about this quote
Topic
Life The human condition
Speaker
Ivan the Czar

Author

Oscar Wilde
Source
Vera, or The Nihilists
Medium
Play
Genre
Tragic play
Language
English
Time
1880 1880s 19th century
Authentication Score 2
Original Citation

Wilde, Oscar. Vera; or, The Nihilists. London: Ranken & Co., 1880, act 4.

Current Citation

Wilde, Oscar. "Vera; or, The Nihilists." The Complete Works of Oscar Wilde: Vera; or The Nihilist and Lady Windermere's Fan, edited by Josephine M. Guy. Vol. 11, Oxford University Press, 2021, act 4.

Another quote from 1864

Taste...Is the only morality...Tell me what you like, and I'll tell you what you are.

John Ruskin

More information about this quote
Topic
Taste
Speaker
John Ruskin
Medium
Lecture
Language
English
Time
1864 1860s 19th century
Authentication Score 3
Original Citation

Ruskin, John. "Traffic." c. 1864, Town Hall, Bradford, England, UK. Lecture.

Current Citation

Ruskin, John. Traffic. Penguin UK, 2015.

Another quote originally in French

Time is a great teacher but unfortunately it kills all its pupils.

Hector Berlioz

More information about this quote
Topic
Effects of time Time

Author

Hector Berlioz
Source
Letters of Hector Berlioz
Medium
Letter
Statement Type
Irony
Language
French
Time
1856 1850s 19th century
Authentication Score 1
Citation

Berlioz, Hector. Personal letter. Nov. 1856.