Gustave Flaubert, 13 November 1872

I am overwhelmed by the stupidity of the public. (...)

The bourgeoisie is so bewildered that it no longer even possesses the instinct of self-defence. And what will come after it will be even worse!

I feel the same sadness as the Roman patricians of the fourth century. I sense an irremediable barbarism rising from the depths of the earth. I hope I will be a goner before it all gets swept away.

Never have the interests of the spirit counted for less.

Never has the hatred of all greatness, the disdain for the beautiful, the execration of literature been so blatant.

I have always striven to live in an ivory tower. But a sea of shit is beating against the walls to make them totter.

~ Gustave Flaubert, 13 November 1872

I am going to bring foreigners against you,
the most ruthless of nations;
they will draw their swords
against your beauty and wisdom
and pierce your shining splendor.
~ Ezekiel 28