“ The past eats up too much and we are never in the present, which alone is important in life. ”
Gustave Flaubert, Bouvard et Pécuchet (1881). copy citation
| Author | Gustave Flaubert |
|---|---|
| Source | Bouvard et Pécuchet |
| Topic | past present |
| Date | 1881 |
| Language | English |
| Reference | |
| Note | |
| Weblink | https://www.gutenberg.org/files/46909/46909-h/46909-h.htm |
Context
“This little work that I am doing, I shall complete this winter, when you are no longer there, poor old man! to arrange, burn, and, classify all my scribblings. With the Bovary finished, the age of reason will begin. And then, why encumber ourselves with so many souvenirs? The past eats up too much and we are never in the present, which alone is important in life. How I philosophise! I have need to, since you are there! It is difficult to write; words are wanting, and I should prefer being extended on my bear-skin, near you, discoursing “melancholically” together.”
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