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Gustave Flaubert
(12 Dec 1821 - 8 May 1880)
French novelist who is remembered for his novel Madame Bovary (1857)
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Science Quotes by Gustave Flaubert (17 quotes)
Mon royaume est de la dimension de l’univers, et mon désir n’a pas de bornes. Je vais toujours, affranchissant l’esprit et pesant les mondes, sans haine, sans peur, sans pitié, sans amour, et sans Dieu. On m’appelle la Science.
My kingdom is of the dimension of the universe and my desire has no bounds. I am going about always to free the spirit and weigh the worlds, without hatred, without fear, without pity and without God. They call me Science.
My kingdom is of the dimension of the universe and my desire has no bounds. I am going about always to free the spirit and weigh the worlds, without hatred, without fear, without pity and without God. They call me Science.
— Gustave Flaubert
French passage from La Tentation de Saint-Antoine (1874) in Œvres Complètes de Gustave Flaubert (1885), 222. English translation by Ernest Tristan and G.F. Monkshood, The Temptation of Saint Anthony (1910), 254.
ARCHIMEDES. On hearing his name, shout “Eureka!” Or else: “Give me a fulcrum and I will move the world”. There is also Archimedes’ screw, but you are not expected to know what that is.
— Gustave Flaubert
The Dictionary of Accepted Ideas (1881), trans. Jaques Barzun (1968), 15.
ASTRONOMY. Delightful science. Of use only to sailors. In speaking of it, make fun of astrology.
— Gustave Flaubert
In The Dictionary of Accepted Ideas (1881), trans. Jaques Barzun (1968), 16.
CHESS. Symbol of military tactics. All great generals good at chess. Too serious as a game, too pointless as a science.
— Gustave Flaubert
In The Dictionary of Accepted Ideas (1881), trans. Jaques Barzun (1968), 23.
COLD. Healthier than heat.
— Gustave Flaubert
The Dictionary of Accepted Ideas (1881), trans. Jaques Barzun (1968), 25.
DOCTOR. Always preceded by “The good”. Among men, in familiar conversation, “Oh! balls, doctor!” Is a wizard when he enjoys your confidence, a jack-ass when you're no longer on terms. All are materialists: “you can't probe for faith with a scalpel.”
— Gustave Flaubert
The Dictionary of Accepted Ideas (1881), trans. Jaques Barzun (1968), 30.
ENGINEERING. The finest career for a young man; he learns all the sciences.
— Gustave Flaubert
In The Dictionary of Accepted Ideas (1881), trans. Jaques Barzun (1968), 35.
LITTRÉ. Snicker on hearing his name: “the gentleman who thinks we are descended from the apes.”
— Gustave Flaubert
The Dictionary of Accepted Ideas (1881), trans. Jaques Barzun (1968), 59.
My kingdom is as wide as the universe, and my desire has no limits. I am always going about enfranchising the mind and weighing the worlds, without hate, without fear, without love, and without God. I am called Science.
— Gustave Flaubert
From La Tentation de Saint-Antoine (1874), as The Temptation of Saint Anthony, collected in The Complete Works of Gustave Flaubert (1904), 141.
My kingdom is as wide as the world, and my desire has no limit. I go forward always, freeing spirits and weighing worlds, without fear, without compassion, without love, and without God. Men call me science.
— Gustave Flaubert
From La Tentation de Saint-Antoine (The Temptation of Saint Anthony) (1874), as translated, without citation, in Isaac Asimov, Isaac Asimov’s Book Science and Nature Quotations (1988), 247.
My kingdom is vast as the universe; and my desire knows no limits. I go on forever,—freeing minds, weighing worlds,—without hatred, without fear, without pity, without love, and without God. Men call me Science!
— Gustave Flaubert
From La Tentation de Saint-Antoine (1874), as translated by Lafcadio Hearn, The Temptation of Saint Anthony (1911), 218-219.
Poetry is as exact a science as geometry.
— Gustave Flaubert
In Letters of Gustave Flaubert (1951), 81.
SCIENCE. A little science takes your religion from you; a great deal brings you back to it.
— Gustave Flaubert
In The Dictionary of Accepted Ideas (1881), trans. Jaques Barzun (1968), 79.
SEA. Bottomless. Symbol of infinity. Induces deep thoughts. At the shore one should always have a good glass. While contemplating the sea, always exclaim: “Water, water everywhere.”
— Gustave Flaubert
In The Dictionary of Accepted Ideas (1881), trans. Jaques Barzun (1968), 79.
SEALED. Always preceded by “hermetically.”
— Gustave Flaubert
In The Dictionary of Accepted Ideas (1881), trans. Jaques Barzun (1968), 79.
SEASHELLS. You must bring some back from the seashore.
— Gustave Flaubert
In The Dictionary of Accepted Ideas (1881), trans. Jaques Barzun (1968), 79. A footnote indicates that here, “Seashells” is a loose translation of the French Galets, which are medium-sized rounded stones found mostly on the Channel beaches. Checking other dictionary sources, “galet” can be translated as cobble, a puck or shingle. But compare, in Spanish, a galet is a type of pasta characterized by its shell shape.
Since you are now studying geometry and trigonometry, I will give you a problem. A ship sails the ocean. It left Boston with a cargo of wool. It grosses 200 tons. It is bound for Le Havre. The mainmast is broken, the cabin boy is on deck, there are 12 passengers aboard, the wind is blowing East-North-East, the clock points to a quarter past three in the afternoon. It is the month of May. How old is the captain?
— Gustave Flaubert
Letter (14 Aug 1853) to Louise Colet. As quote and cited in Robert A. Nowlan, Masters of Mathematics: The Problems They Solved, Why These Are Important, and What You Should Know about Them (2017), 271.
Quotes by others about Gustave Flaubert (1)
Now and then, in the course of the century, a great man of science, like Darwin; a great poet, like Keats; a fine critical spirit, like M. Renan; a supreme artist, like Flaubert, has been able to isolate himself, to keep himself out of reach of the clamorous claims of others, to stand “under the shelter of the wall,” as Plato puts it, and so to realise the perfection of what was in him, to his own incomparable gain, and to the incomparable and lasting gain of the whole world.
In Sebastian Melmoth (1908), 133-134.
In science it often happens that scientists say, 'You know that's a really good argument; my position is mistaken,' and then they would actually change their minds and you never hear that old view from them again. They really do it. It doesn't happen as often as it should, because scientists are human and change is sometimes painful. But it happens every day. I cannot recall the last time something like that happened in politics or religion.
(1987) -- 
