There was an air of indifference about them, a calm produced by the gratification of every passion; and through their manners were suave, one could sense beneath them that special brutality which comes from the habit of breaking down half-hearted resistances that keep one fit and tickle oneโs vanityโthe handling of blooded horses, the pursuit of loose women.
Gustave FlaubertHow we keep these dead souls in our hearts. Each one of us carries within himself his necropolis.
Gustave FlaubertI am alone on this road strewn with bones and bordered by ruins! Angels have their brothers, and demons have their infernal companions. Yet I have but the sound of my scythe when it harvests, my whistling arrows, my galloping horse. Always the sound of the same wave eating away at the world
Gustave FlaubertOnly three things are infinite. The sky in its stars, the sea in its drops of water, and the heart in its tears.
Gustave Flaubert