--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: He loved a book because it was a book; he…" description: "\"He loved a book because it was a book; he loved its odor, its form, its title. What he loved in a manuscript was its old illegible date, the bizarre an..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4bf/gustave-flaubert-354_bizarre_he-loved-a-book-because-it-was-a-book-he_2819377.jpg" --- # He loved a book because it was a book; he loved its odor… ![“He loved a book because it was a book; he loved its odor, its form, its title. What he loved in a manuscript was its old illegible date, the bizarre and strange Gothic characters, the heavy gilding which loaded its drawings. It was its pages covered with dust — dust of which he breathed the sweet…” quote by Gustave Flaubert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4bf/gustave-flaubert-354_bizarre_he-loved-a-book-because-it-was-a-book-he_2819377.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4bf/gustave-flaubert-354_bizarre_he-loved-a-book-because-it-was-a-book-he_2819377.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4bf/gustave-flaubert-354_bizarre_he-loved-a-book-because-it-was-a-book-he_2819377.jpg) > “He loved a book because it was a book; he loved its odor, its form, its title. What he loved in a manuscript was its old illegible date, the bizarre and strange Gothic characters, the heavy gilding which loaded its drawings. It was its pages covered with dust — dust of which he breathed the sweet and tender perfume with delight.” [Gustave Flaubert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gustave-flaubert/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. He cherishes books for their physical and sensory qualities, not just content. **In simple terms:** Loves books for look, smell, and feel. Key Takeaway Appreciate the tactile joy of reading. Themes aesthetics nostalgia literature Mood reflective warm Type literary philosophical When to use this quote - library design - bookstore ambience - personal reading rituals Key Concepts sensory experience material culture book collecting Questions to Reflect On - How do physical books enhance reading? - What role does scent play in memory? A Different Perspective Some may prioritize content over form. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Bizarre](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bizarre/) [Book](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/book/) [Book Loved](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/book-loved-962735/) [Books](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/books/) [Character](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/character/) [Covered](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/covered/) [Delight](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/delight/) [Drawing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/drawing/) [Dust](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dust/) [Form](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/form/) [Gothic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/gothic/) [Heavy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/heavy/) [Loved Manuscript](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/loved-manuscript-3578287/) [Loved Odor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/loved-odor-3578289/) [Manuscript Old](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/manuscript-old-3578288/) [Odor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/odor/) [Pages](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pages/) [Perfume](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/perfume/) [Strange](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/strange/) [Sweet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sweet/) [Titles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/titles/) [Writer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writer/) ## Related quotes > [When the adversaries of Erasmus had got the Trinity into his edition, they threw by their manuscript as an old almanac out of date.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isaac-newton/when-the-adversaries-of-erasmus-had-got-the-trinity-into-his-edition/) [Isaac Newton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isaac-newton/) > [“This book is a awsome book and i really gor into it. 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No, there was not.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kylie-scott/was-there-anything-more-wonderful-than-sending-someone-home-with-a/) [Kylie Scott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kylie-scott/) > [I look at him, look at the book, remember, this book, this moment, the first book I ever loved](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/audrey-niffenegger/i-look-at-him-look-at-the-book-remember-this-book-this-moment-the/) [Audrey Niffenegger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/audrey-niffenegger/) > [“No more can I turn the leaves of this dear book that I loved, and vainly hope in time to read it all. No…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-dickens/no-more-can-i-turn-the-leaves-of-this-dear-book-that-i-loved-and/) [Charles Dickens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-dickens/) > [Never! Never, Marge. I can't live the button-down life like you. 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You see what a tiny place you occupy in the world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gustave-flaubert/travel-makes-one-modest-you-see-what-a-tiny-place-you-occupy-in-the/) [Gustave Flaubert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gustave-flaubert/) > [“We must not touch our idols; the gilt sticks to our fingers.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gustave-flaubert/we-must-not-touch-our-idols-the-gilt-sticks-to-our-fingers/) [Gustave Flaubert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gustave-flaubert/) > [A superhuman will is needed in order to write, and I am only a man.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gustave-flaubert/a-superhuman-will-is-needed-in-order-to-write-and-i-am-only-a-man/) [Gustave Flaubert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gustave-flaubert/) > [The writer must wade into life as into the sea, but only up to the navel.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gustave-flaubert/the-writer-must-wade-into-life-as-into-the-sea-but-only-up-to-the/) [Gustave Flaubert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gustave-flaubert/) > [COLD. Healthier than heat.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gustave-flaubert/cold-healthier-than-heat/) [Gustave Flaubert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gustave-flaubert/) > [And indeed, what is better than to sit by one's fireside in the evening with a book, while the wind beats against the window…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gustave-flaubert/and-indeed-what-is-better-than-to-sit-by-one-s-fireside-in-the/) [Gustave Flaubert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gustave-flaubert/) > [One's existence should be in two parts: one should live like a bourgeois and think like a demigod.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gustave-flaubert/one-s-existence-should-be-in-two-parts-one-should-live-like-a/) [Gustave Flaubert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gustave-flaubert/) > [Emma was no asleep, she was pretending to be asleep; and, while he was dozing off at her side, she lay awake, dreaming other…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gustave-flaubert/emma-was-no-asleep-she-was-pretending-to-be-asleep-and-while-he-was/) [Gustave Flaubert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gustave-flaubert/) [Explore all 526 Gustave Flaubert quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gustave-flaubert/) ## More Bizarre quotes > [“but 20 years from now it will be bizarre if you walk into a store and the store doesn’t know who you are.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-scoble/but-20-years-from-now-it-will-be-bizarre-if-you-walk-into-a-store-and/) [Robert Scoble](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-scoble/) > [My illness is one often characterized by dramatic overspending - in my case through frenzied shopping sprees, credit card abuse, excessive hoarding of unnecessary…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andy-behrman/my-illness-is-one-often-characterized-by-dramatic-overspending-in-my/) [Andy Behrman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andy-behrman/) > [Even the two times that I left, I never really felt like I left the band. 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