Gustave Flaubert Soul Quotations

Style is as much under the words as in the words. It is as much the soul as it is the flesh of a work.

Everyone, either from modesty or egotism, hides away the best and most delicate of his soul’s possessions; to gain the esteem of others, we must only ever show our ugliest sides; this is how we keep ourselves on the common level

The principal thing in this world is to keep one's soul aloft.

[T]he truth is that fullness of soul can sometimes overflow in utter vapidity of language, for none of us can ever express the exact measure of his needs or his thoughts or his sorrows; and human speech is like a cracked kettle on which we tap crude rhythms for bears to dance to, while we long to make music that will melt the stars.

How we keep these dead souls in our hearts. Each one of us carries within himself his necropolis.

The principal thing in the world is to keep the soul aloft.

The most important thing in the world is to hold your soul aloft.

Mediocrity cherishes rules; as for me, I hate them; I feel for them and for every restriction, corporation, caste, hierarchy, level, herd, a loathing which fills my soul, and it is in this respect perhaps that I understand martyrdom.

There are two infinities that confuse me: the one in my soul devours me; the one around me will crush me

You can't find the soul with a scalpel.