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About this quote

What does it mean?
A woman prays with the same intensity she used for her lover but feels no spiritual connection.
In plain terms
She tries praying like she used to love but feels nothing and thinks it is fake.
What can you take from it?
Religious faith can feel empty when compared to intense earthly emotions.

Where it applies

  • religious struggle
  • emotional transition
  • personal crisis

Putting it to work

  • writing drama
  • exploring faith
  • character study

Questions to consider

  • Can prayer feel the same as love?
  • Is faith ever a substitute for love?

Another view

This assumes religious experience must mimic romantic passion.

More from Gustave Flaubert

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  3. The difficulties he foresaw were so formidable that he quickly banished the disagreeable subject from his mind.

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