--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Flaubert spoke true: to succeed a great…" description: "\"Flaubert spoke true: to succeed a great artist must have both character and fanaticism and few in this country are willing to pay the price. Our writer..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/42c/cyril-connolly-1829_accepting_flaubert-spoke-true-to-succeed-a-great-a_1132037.jpg" --- # Flaubert spoke true: to succeed a great artist must have… ![“Flaubert spoke true: to succeed a great artist must have both character and fanaticism and few in this country are willing to pay the price. Our writers have either no personality and therefore no style or a false personality and therefore a bad style; they mistake prejudice for energy and accept…” quote by Cyril Connolly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/42c/cyril-connolly-1829_accepting_flaubert-spoke-true-to-succeed-a-great-a_1132037.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/42c/cyril-connolly-1829_accepting_flaubert-spoke-true-to-succeed-a-great-a_1132037.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/42c/cyril-connolly-1829_accepting_flaubert-spoke-true-to-succeed-a-great-a_1132037.jpg) > “Flaubert spoke true: to succeed a great artist must have both character and fanaticism and few in this country are willing to pay the price. Our writers have either no personality and therefore no style or a false personality and therefore a bad style; they mistake prejudice for energy and accept the sensation of material well-being as a system of thought.” [Cyril Connolly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cyril-connolly/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. An artist needs strong character and obsessive dedication; without them, style suffers and false personas emerge **In simple terms:** Great art demands character and passion Key Takeaway Cultivate authenticity and relentless drive Themes art character dedication style authenticity Mood determined reflective Type advice philosophical When to use this quote - writing - painting - music composition - performance - entrepreneurship Key Concepts Creative integrity personal identity artistic discipline Questions to Reflect On - How do you balance personal integrity with commercial success? - What sacrifices are you willing to make for your art? A Different Perspective True character cannot be bought; market pressures may dilute authenticity ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Accepting](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/accepting/) [Art](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/art/) [Artist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/artist/) [Artist Character](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/artist-character-3115965/) [Character](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/character/) [Character Fanaticism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/character-fanaticism-3115963/) [Country](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/country/) [Energy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/energy/) [Fanaticism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fanaticism/) [Flaubert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/flaubert/) [Flaubert Spoke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/flaubert-spoke-3115962/) [Great art](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/great-art/) [Great artist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/great-artist/) [Materials](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/materials/) [Mistake](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mistake/) [Pay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pay/) [Pay the price](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pay-the-price/) [Personality](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/personality/) [Prejudice](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/prejudice/) [Sensations](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sensations/) [Spokes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/spokes/) [Style](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/style/) [Succeed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/succeed/) [Well being](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/well-being/) [Wells](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wells/) [Willing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/willing/) [Writers Personality](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writers-personality-3115964/) [Writing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing/) ## Related quotes > [I believe that, like most writers, my personality comes through in the fiction. So in that respect my writing can't be like any other…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-kane/i-believe-that-like-most-writers-my-personality-comes-through-in-the/) [Paul Kane](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-kane/) > [The only original part in a work of art is the infusion of the artist's own character, if he has one.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/austin-o-malley/the-only-original-part-in-a-work-of-art-is-the-infusion-of-the-artist/) [Austin O'Malley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/austin-o-malley/) > [In our time, we have become too interested in the artist and his or her character and experience as a way of understanding art.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/salman-rushdie/in-our-time-we-have-become-too-interested-in-the-artist-and-his-or/) [Salman Rushdie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/salman-rushdie/) > [“Flaubert tells us that three things are required for happiness: stupidity, selfishness, and good health. I am," he told Morgan, "an unhappy man -”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-doria-russell/flaubert-tells-us-that-three-things-are-required-for-happiness/) [Mary Doria Russell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-doria-russell/) > [“Flaubert teaches you to gave upon the truth and not blink from its consequences; he teaches you, with Montaigne, to sleep on the pillow…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julian-barnes/flaubert-teaches-you-to-gave-upon-the-truth-and-not-blink-from-its/) [Julian Barnes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julian-barnes/) > [“He had no document but his memory; the training he had acquired with each added hexameter gave him a discipline unsuspected by those who…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jorge-luis-borges/he-had-no-document-but-his-memory-the-training-he-had-acquired-with/) [Jorge Luís Borges](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jorge-luis-borges/) > [“My mother, who has read all of Balzac and quotes Flaubert at every dinner, is living proof every day of how education is a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/muriel-barbery/my-mother-who-has-read-all-of-balzac-and-quotes-flaubert-at-every/) [Muriel Barbery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/muriel-barbery/) > [ “Monsieur Flaubert is not a writer. \[1857\]” ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/le-figaro/monsieur-flaubert-is-not-a-writer-1857/) [Le Figaro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/le-figaro/) > [ I am finishing a biography of \[Gustave\] Flaubert. Because he is the opposite of what I am. One needs to rub up against argument. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-paul-sartre/i-am-finishing-a-biography-of-gustave-flaubert-because-he-is-the/) [Jean-Paul Sartre](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-paul-sartre/) > [“Flaubert prided himself on his frankness; it was indeed brutal.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-somerset-maugham/flaubert-prided-himself-on-his-frankness-it-was-indeed-brutal/) [W. Somerset Maugham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-somerset-maugham/) > [And there was that poor sucker Flaubert rolling around on his floor for three days looking for the right word.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dorothy-parker/and-there-was-that-poor-sucker-flaubert-rolling-around-on-his-floor/) [Dorothy Parker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dorothy-parker/) > [“I have recommended you the dignity of skepticism: yet here I am, prowling around the Absolute. Technique of contradiction? Remember, rather, what Flaubert said:…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emil-cioran/i-have-recommended-you-the-dignity-of-skepticism-yet-here-i-am/) [Emil Cioran](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emil-cioran/) > [I have a boundless passion for Flaubert. It's unthinkable to me that someone might not have read 'Madame Bovary.' He writes with a scalpel.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brigitte-macron/i-have-a-boundless-passion-for-flaubert-it-s-unthinkable-to-me-that/) [Brigitte Macron](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brigitte-macron/) > [“No sooner do we come into this world,’ said Flaubert, ‘than bits of us start to fall off.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julian-barnes/no-sooner-do-we-come-into-this-world-said-flaubert-than-bits-of-us/) [Julian Barnes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julian-barnes/) > [“No matter how many times we read "King Lear," never shall we find the good king banging his tankard in high revelry, all woes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vladimir-nabokov/no-matter-how-many-times-we-read-king-lear-never-shall-we-find-the/) [Vladimir Nabokov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vladimir-nabokov/) ## More by Cyril Connolly > [Literature is the art of writing something that will be read twice; journalism what will be read once.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cyril-connolly/literature-is-the-art-of-writing-something-that-will-be-read-twice/) [Cyril Connolly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cyril-connolly/) > [There is no fury like a woman searching for a new lover](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cyril-connolly/there-is-no-fury-like-a-woman-searching-for-a-new-lover/) [Cyril Connolly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cyril-connolly/) > [Beautiful women must think about their beauty as capitalists think about their investments or politicians about their majorities; it is all they have to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cyril-connolly/beautiful-women-must-think-about-their-beauty-as-capitalists-think/) [Cyril Connolly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cyril-connolly/) > [We cannot be happy until we can love ourselves without egotism and our friends without tyranny.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cyril-connolly/we-cannot-be-happy-until-we-can-love-ourselves-without-egotism-and/) [Cyril Connolly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cyril-connolly/) > [What grape to keep its place in the sun, taught our ancestors to make wine?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cyril-connolly/what-grape-to-keep-its-place-in-the-sun-taught-our-ancestors-to-make/) [Cyril Connolly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cyril-connolly/) > [“Literature is the art of writing something that will be read twice.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cyril-connolly/literature-is-the-art-of-writing-something-that-will-be-read-twice-2/) [Cyril Connolly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cyril-connolly/) > [“Our memories are card-indexes consulted and then put back in disorder by authorities whom we do not control.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cyril-connolly/our-memories-are-card-indexes-consulted-and-then-put-back-in-disorder/) [Cyril Connolly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cyril-connolly/) > [Were I to deduce any system from my feelings on leaving Eton, it might be called The Theory of Permanent Adolescence. It is the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cyril-connolly/were-i-to-deduce-any-system-from-my-feelings-on-leaving-eton-it-might/) [Cyril Connolly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cyril-connolly/) > [Failure on the other hand is infectious. The world is full of charming failures (for all charming people have something to conceal, usually their…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cyril-connolly/failure-on-the-other-hand-is-infectious-the-world-is-full-of-charming/) [Cyril Connolly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cyril-connolly/) > [The civilization of one epoch becomes the manure of the next.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cyril-connolly/the-civilization-of-one-epoch-becomes-the-manure-of-the-next/) [Cyril Connolly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cyril-connolly/) > [There is no more somber enemy of good art than the pram in the hall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cyril-connolly/there-is-no-more-somber-enemy-of-good-art-than-the-pram-in-the-hall/) [Cyril Connolly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cyril-connolly/) > [The true function of a writer is to produce a masterpiece and no other task is of any consequence.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cyril-connolly/the-true-function-of-a-writer-is-to-produce-a-masterpiece-and-no/) [Cyril Connolly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cyril-connolly/) > [“We pay for vice by the knowledge that we are wicked; we pay for pleasure when we find out too late that we are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cyril-connolly/we-pay-for-vice-by-the-knowledge-that-we-are-wicked-we-pay-for/) [Cyril Connolly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cyril-connolly/) > [The books I haven't written are better than the books other people have.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cyril-connolly/the-books-i-haven-t-written-are-better-than-the-books-other-people/) [Cyril Connolly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cyril-connolly/) > [If Montaigne is a man in the prime of life sitting in his study on a warm morning and putting down the sum of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cyril-connolly/if-montaigne-is-a-man-in-the-prime-of-life-sitting-in-his-study-on-a/) [Cyril Connolly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cyril-connolly/) [Explore all 204 Cyril Connolly quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cyril-connolly/) ## More Accepting quotes > [From Augustine down, theologians have tried to compel people to accept their special interpretation of the Scripture, and the tortures of the inquisition, the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matilda-joslyn-gage/from-augustine-down-theologians-have-tried-to-compel-people-to-accept/) [Matilda Joslyn Gage](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matilda-joslyn-gage/) > [Laughing, laughing, laughing, laughing! It is the jester! A voice from the Void, to cheer poor Cicero! I accept your gift, dearest Night Mother.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcus-tullius-cicero/laughing-laughing-laughing-laughing-it-is-the-jester-a-voice-from-the/) [Marcus Tullius Cicero](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcus-tullius-cicero/) > [This duo inside of me causes the perfect opportunity to live and learn twice as fast as those who choose to accept simplicity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tupac-shakur/this-duo-inside-of-me-causes-the-perfect-opportunity-to-live-and/) [Tupac Shakur](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tupac-shakur/) > [There is something about the South that accepts the supernatural. If you don't accept it and you're having a conversation with someone who does,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-englert/there-is-something-about-the-south-that-accepts-the-supernatural-if/) [Alice Englert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-englert/) > [We only enter into the full life if our faith gives thanks. Because how else do we accept His free gift of salvation if…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ann-voskamp/we-only-enter-into-the-full-life-if-our-faith-gives-thanks-because/) [Ann Voskamp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ann-voskamp/) > [Don't be bitter. Everybody suffers. If you can accept your suffering then you will understand other people better. Be grateful for pain. Love life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-colbert/don-t-be-bitter-everybody-suffers-if-you-can-accept-your-suffering/) [Stephen Colbert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-colbert/) > [It takes an unusually philosophic mind to accept that all one’s suffering might be to no end, really, in the larger scheme of things.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/it-takes-an-unusually-philosophic-mind-to-accept-that-all-one-s/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [No nation being under another nation can accept gifts, and kick at the responsibility attached to those gifts, imposed by the conquering nation.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/no-nation-being-under-another-nation-can-accept-gifts-and-kick-at-the/) [Mahatma Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahatma-gandhi/) > [Even with clothing naked animals, there were people who wanted to send in money. A woman in Santa Barbara, California, sent a $40,000 check.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-abel/even-with-clothing-naked-animals-there-were-people-who-wanted-to-send/) [Alan Abel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-abel/) > [Society understands the architecture of academia and knows there are relevant qualifications in different fields, and the media accepts the idea of specialisations and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jay-griffiths/society-understands-the-architecture-of-academia-and-knows-there-are/) [Jay Griffiths](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jay-griffiths/) > [Whatever your conscious mind assumes and believes to be true, your subconscious mind will accept and bring to pass. Believe in good fortune, divine…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-murphy/whatever-your-conscious-mind-assumes-and-believes-to-be-true-your/) [Joseph Murphy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-murphy/) > [Losing someone is easy, but accepting it is hard.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/losing-someone-is-easy-but-accepting-it-is-hard/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [… and so he tried to accept the ache in his heart as what Dr. Larch would call the common symptoms of normal life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-irving/and-so-he-tried-to-accept-the-ache-in-his-heart-as-what-dr-larch/) [John Irving](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-irving/) > [I think what was special about 'Music by Prudence' was the classic story of the title subject's life path - from being an outcast…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roger-ross-williams/i-think-what-was-special-about-music-by-prudence-was-the-classic/) [Roger Ross Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roger-ross-williams/) > [As my films are born at the moment when they are reflected into another person's mind and memories, there are no misconceptions. I totally…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pirjo-honkasalo/as-my-films-are-born-at-the-moment-when-they-are-reflected-into/) [Pirjo Honkasalo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pirjo-honkasalo/) [Browse all 6,788 Accepting quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/accepting/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Flaubert spoke true: to succeed a great artist must have both character and fanaticism and few in this country are willing to pay the price. 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