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About this quote

What does it mean?
Vitality and energy are more valuable than refined restraint.
In plain terms
Being lively matters more than being polished.
What can you take from it?
Prioritize passion over perfection.

Where it applies

  • artistic creation
  • social interaction
  • lifestyle choices

Putting it to work

  • embrace spontaneity
  • don't overedit
  • lead with passion

Questions to consider

  • Do you value energy or elegance?
  • When did you choose one over the other?

Another view

Taste can prevent excess and harm.

More from Gustave Flaubert

  1. Axion: hatred of the bourgeois is the beginning of wisdom.

    Permalink to quote #10
  2. Nothing is more humiliating than to see idiots succeed in enterprises we have failed in.

    Permalink to quote #12
  3. Do not read as children do to enjoy themselves, or, as the ambitious do to educate themselves. No, read to live.

    Permalink to quote #9

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