Gustave Flaubert is one of the major figures of French literature. He was made famous by his first novel, Madame Bovary, and is also remembered for his Correspondance, full of precise introspection and reflections about realism in literature. Flaubert was known for his unvelievably scrupulous devotion to his style. He believed in the possibility and necessity of finding “le mot juste” (“the right word”), and would devout weeks to the achievement of sometimes a single page. Flaubert decisively established what most readers and writers now think of as modern realist narration, and his influence today is almost too familiar to be visible. We have selected for you 100 of his most interesting quotes, for you to get acquainted by this major proponent of realism, and let your style benefit from the well-known precision of his.
–