Dr. Makwa Speaks

Flaubert

“Knife after knife was plunged into the poor author. It was hideous, the utter collapse of his hopes. One after another his protests were beaten down unmercifully, so that he sat silently, scarcely daring to speak. ‘But the things you say are bad spring from faults inherent in my temperament!’ he finally cried desperately. ‘How can I correct them?’ There was a silence that lasted several seconds.”

—From “Flaubert and Madame Bovary,” Francis Steegmuller. This is Flaubert getting raked over the coals for an early draft of “The Temptation of St. Anthony.”

More Gustave

“To ‘become known’ is not my chief concern—that can afford complete satisfaction only to very mediocre vanities. And besides, can celebrity be considered proof positive of the value of one’s work? Even the most widespread fame during one’s lifetime may not suffice to endure afterwards, and seldom can anyone but a fool be sure of posthumous glory. Thus even to one’s self illustriousness is no proof that one has accomplished great things, and obscurity no proof that one has not. I am aiming at something better—to please myself. Success seems to me a result, not an end in itself…When I think that I have gathered the fruit of my efforts I shall not refuse to sell it, and I shall not forbid applause if it is good. If on the other hand when it is gathered no one wants it, that can’t be helped…If a work of art is good, if it is authentic, it will be recognized some time—and if one has to wait for recognition six months of six years until after one’s death, what’s the difference?”

—Gustave Flaubert in a letter to his editor/friend Maxime Du Camp

My dear Liline,

“Thank you for writing me such a nice letter. The spelling is better than in any of your others and the style is also good. If you sit long enough in my armchair, lean your elbows on my table, and hold you head in your two hands, perhaps you will end by becoming a writer.”

Gustave Flaubert, to his niece