Quote #62

When she knelt at the gothic prie-dieu she addressed the Lord with the same ardent words she had formerly murmured to her lover in the ecstasies of adultery. It was her way of praying for faith; but heaven showered no joy upon her, and she would rise, her limbs aching, with a vague feeling that it was all a vast fraud.

More from Gustave Flaubert

  1. She was filled with wonderment at the discovery that there was a bliss greater than mere happiness -- a love different from and transcendin…
  2. But that kind of happiness was doubtless a lie, invented to make one despair of any love. Now she well knew the true paltriness of the pass…
  3. The difficulties he foresaw were so formidable that he quickly banished the disagreeable subject from his mind.
  4. A mad idea seized her: he was gazing at her now! She was sure of it! She long to rush into his arms and seek refuge in his strength as in t…
  5. She cast her eyes about her, longing for the earth to open up. Why not end it all? What was holding her back? She was free to act. And she …
  6. Self-confidence depends on surroundings: the same person talks quite differently in the drawing room and in the garret, and a rich woman's …
  7. But some day sooner or later our passion would have cooled -- inevitably -- it's the way with everything human.
  8. 'Ah!' she said, lifting her lovely tear-bright eyes to the ceiling. 'If you knew all the dreams I've dreamed!'

All Gustave Flaubert quotes