That was how they would have liked to be: what they were doing was to dream up ideals and then refashion their past lives to match them. Speech is a rolling-machine that always stretches the feelings it expresses.
About this quote
- What does it mean?
- People construct ideal selves by rewriting their history, while speech exaggerates the emotions it conveys.
- In plain terms
- We reshape our past to fit our dreams and exaggerate feelings in speech.
- What can you take from it?
- Identity is often shaped by narrative fiction.
Where it applies
Putting it to work
Questions to consider
- How much of your past is fact or story?
- Does your speech match your feelings?
Another view
Not all self-reframing is dishonest; sometimes it is healthy adaptation.
More from Gustave Flaubert
'Ah!' she said, lifting her lovely tear-bright eyes to the ceiling. 'If you knew all the dreams I've dreamed!'
Permalink to quote #66 As she listened to him, Madame Bovary marveled at how old she was: all those re-emerging details made her life seem vaster as though she had endless emotional …
Permalink to quote #68 Self-confidence depends on surroundings: the same person talks quite differently in the drawing room and in the garret, and a rich woman's virtue is protected …
Permalink to quote #65
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