The only way to avoid being unhappy is to close yourself up in Art and to count for nothing all the rest. – Gustave Flaubert
Stupidity is something unshakable nothing attacks it without breaking itself against it it is of the nature of granite, hard and resistant. – Gustave Flaubert
The cult of art gives pride one never has too much of it. – Gustave Flaubert
Letters are above all useful as a means of expressing the ideal self; and no other method of communication is quite so good for this purpose. In letters we can reform without practice, beg without humiliation, snip and shape embarrassing experiences to the measure of our own desires… – Elizabeth Hardwick