“There is not a particle of life which does not bear poetry within it”
In today's fast-paced and technology-driven world, Flaubert's insight reminds us to find beauty and meaning in everyday existence. Despite the constant influx of digital information and the emphasis on efficiency, every moment and experience holds a poetic essence. Whether in nature, human connections, or personal struggles, recognizing the inherent poetry within life encourages mindfulness, creativity, and deeper appreciation of the world around us. This perspective fosters emotional well-being and inspires us to seek significance beyond the superficial aspects of modern life.
This quote by Gustave Flaubert highlights the omnipresence of poetry and beauty in every aspect of life. By stating that "not a particle of life" is devoid of poetry, Flaubert suggests that poetry is inherent in even the smallest details and moments around us. It emphasizes a perspective that life itself is a continuous source of inspiration, and poetry is not confined to written words but permeates emotions, experiences, and nature. This view encourages us to observe the world with greater sensitivity and appreciation, recognizing the poetic qualities embedded deeply within the everyday.
“[H]e was soon to be head clerk; it was time to settle down. So he gave up his flute, exalted sentiments, and poetry; for every bourgeois in the flush of his youth, were it but for a day, a moment, has believed himself capable of immense passions, of lofty enterprises. The most mediocre libertine has dreamed of sultanas; every notary bears within him the debris of a poet.”
“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.”
“When one does something, one must do it wholly and well. Those bastard existences where you sell suet all day and write poetry at night are made for mediocre minds – like those horses that are equally good for saddle and carriage, the worst kind, that can neither jump a ditch nor pull a plow.”
“Before her marriage she had thought that she had love within her grasp; but since the happiness which she had expected this love to bring her hadn’t come, she supposed she must have been mistaken. And Emma tried to imagine just what was meant, in life, by the words “bliss,” “passion,” and “rapture” - words that had seemed so beautiful to her in books.”
“No one, ever, can give the exact measure of his needs, his apprehensions, or his sorrows; and human speech is like a cracked cauldron on which we bang out tunes that make bears dance, when we want to move the stars to pity.”
“A good sentence in prose should be like a good line in poetry, unchangeable, as rhythmic, as sonorous.”