“ The too rigid application of truth is hurtful to beauty, and preoccupation with beauty impedes truth. ”
Gustave Flaubert, Bouvard et Pécuchet (1881). copy citation
| Author | Gustave Flaubert |
|---|---|
| Source | Bouvard et Pécuchet |
| Topic | beauty truth |
| Date | 1881 |
| Language | English |
| Reference | |
| Note | |
| Weblink | https://www.gutenberg.org/files/25014/25014-h/25014-h.htm |
Context
“Since an idea cannot be interpreted in every form, we ought to recognise limits amongst the arts, and in each of the arts many forms; but combinations arise185 in which the style of one will enter into another without the ill result of deviating from the end—of not being true.
The too rigid application of truth is hurtful to beauty, and preoccupation with beauty impedes truth. However, without an ideal there is no truth; this is why types are of a more continuous reality than portraits. Art, besides, only aims at verisimilitude; but verisimilitude depends on the observer, and is a relative and transitory thing.”
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