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

Let us have faith that right makes might, and in that faith, let us, to the end, dare to do our duty as we understand it.

Abraham Lincoln

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Read the full text of this speech at umich.edu
More information about this quote
Topic
Might makes right Justice American Civil War
Speaker
Abraham Lincoln
Source
Address at Cooper Institute, New York City
Medium
Speech
Genre
Political speech
Language
English
Time
1860 1860s 19th century
Authentication Score 2
Original Citation

Lincoln, Abraham. "Address at Cooper Institute, New York City." 27 Feb. 1860, New York City, NY, USA.

Current Citation

Lincoln, Abraham. "Address at Cooper Institute, New York City, February 27, 1860." Abraham Lincoln: Speeches and Writings 1859-1865, edited by Don E. Fehrenbacher. Library of America, 1989.

Another quote about Art

Painting is not done to decorate apartments. It is an instrument of war for attack and defense against the enemy.

Pablo Picasso

More information about this quote
Topic
Painting Purpose of art Art
Speaker
Pablo Picasso
Medium
Interview
Language
French
Time
1945 1940s 20th century
Authentication Score 3
Citation

Picasso, Pablo. "Picasso n'est pas officier dans l'armee Francaise." Interviewed by Simon Tery. Les Lettres Francaise, 24 Mar. 1945.

Another quote from 1864

Man is everywhere a disturbing agent. Wherever he plants his foot, the harmonies of nature are turned to discords.

George Perkins Marsh

Man and Nature

More information about this quote
Topic
Man and nature Environmental destruction

Author

George Perkins Marsh
Source
Man and Nature
Language
English
Time
1864 1860s 19th century
Authentication Score 3
Original Citation

Marsh, George Perkins. Man and Nature: Or, Physical Geography as Modified by Human Action. New York: Charles Scribner, 1864, ch. 1.

Current Citation

Marsh, George Perkins. Man and Nature: Or, Physical Geography as Modified by Human Action. Dover Publications, 2021, ch. 1.

Another quote originally in French

One of the best things about love is just recognizing a man's step when he climbs the stairs.

Colette

More information about this quote
Topic
Lifelong love Love

Author

Colette
Genre
Autobiography and memoir
Language
French
Time
1941 1940s 20th century
Authentication Score 3
Citation

Colette. Looking Backwards. Peter Owen, 1975.