Art Quote by Gustave Flaubert
“I took Eugene Sue's Arthur from the reading-room. It's indescribable, enough to make you vomit. You have to read this to realize the pitifulness of money, success, and the public. Literature has become consumptive. It spits and slobbers, covers its blisters with salve and sticking-plaster, and has grown bald from too much hair-slicking. It would take Christ of art to cure this leper.”
About This Quote
Source Essay: On Modern Literature, 1865
Commercialized literature loses depth, reducing art to consumption and masking societal issues like poverty and success.
In simple terms: Literature turned into consumption loses its depth.
Key Takeaway
Seek out literature that challenges and enlightens.
Themes
art
commercialization
social critique
Mood
critical
analytical
Type
literary
philosophical
When to use this quote
- book clubs
- academic courses
- public discussions
- media analysis
Key Concepts
literary criticism
consumer culture
economic disparity
Questions to Reflect On
- How does commercial pressure shape the books you read?
- What can readers do to support authentic literature?
A Different Perspective
Not all literature is consumptive; some still offers depth.
![“It seems to me one cannot sit down in that place [the Round Reading room of the British Museum] without a heart full of grateful reverence. I own to have said my grace at the table, and to have thanked Heaven for my English birthright, freely to partake of these beautiful books, and speak the…” quote by William Makepeace Thackeray](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/21d/william-makepeace-thackeray-74_beautiful_it-seems-to-me-one-cannot-sit-down-in-th_291707.jpg)
