Gustave Flaubert

Writing is a dog's life, but the only life worth living. ”

Nothing is more humiliating than to see idiots succeed in enterprises we have failed in. ”

I have come to have the firm conviction that vanity is the basis of everything, and finally that what one calls conscience is only inner vanity. ”

One mustn't ask apple trees for oranges, France for sun, women for love, life for happiness. ”

Oh, if I had been loved at the age of seventeen, what an idiot I would be today. Happiness is like smallpox: if you catch it too soon, it can completely ruin your constitution. ”

Happiness is a monstrosity! Punished are those who seek it. ”

To be stupid, selfish, and have good health are three requirements for happiness, though if stupidity is lacking, all is lost. ”

Be regular and orderly in your life, so that you may be violent and original in your work. ”

The true poet for me is a priest. As soon as he dons the cassock, he must leave his family. ”

Here is true immorality: ignorance and stupidity; the devil is nothing but this. His name is Legion. ”