--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Through small apertures we glimpse…" description: "\"Through small apertures we glimpse abysses whose sombre depths turn us faint. And yet over the whole there hovers an extraordinary tenderness.\" — Gusta..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/956/gustave-flaubert-354_abyss_through-small-apertures-we-glimpse-abyss_2937089.jpg" --- # Through small apertures we glimpse abysses whose sombre… ![“Through small apertures we glimpse abysses whose sombre depths turn us faint. And yet over the whole there hovers an extraordinary tenderness.” quote by Gustave Flaubert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/956/gustave-flaubert-354_abyss_through-small-apertures-we-glimpse-abyss_2937089.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/956/gustave-flaubert-354_abyss_through-small-apertures-we-glimpse-abyss_2937089.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/956/gustave-flaubert-354_abyss_through-small-apertures-we-glimpse-abyss_2937089.jpg) > “Through small apertures we glimpse abysses whose sombre depths turn us faint. And yet over the whole there hovers an extraordinary tenderness.” [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. Even in darkness, moments of tenderness can be perceived through narrow perspectives. **In simple terms:** Small windows reveal hidden tenderness amid gloom. Key Takeaway Seek gentle moments in bleak situations. Themes beauty darkness perception humanity Mood melancholic hopeful Type literary philosophical When to use this quote - grief counseling - art therapy - literary analysis Key Concepts existentialism aesthetic contrast psychology Questions to Reflect On - What small signs of kindness do you notice in hardship? - How does perspective shape our experience of sorrow? A Different Perspective Focusing only on small apertures may miss broader context. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Abyss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/abyss/) [Abysses Sombre](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/abysses-sombre-4360263/) [Aperture](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/aperture/) [Apertures Glimpse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/apertures-glimpse-2541056/) [Depth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/depth/) [Extraordinary](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/extraordinary/) [Extraordinary Tenderness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/extraordinary-tenderness-2541055/) [Glimpse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/glimpse/) [Glimpse Abysses](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/glimpse-abysses-2541054/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Somber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/somber/) [Sombre Depths](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sombre-depths-4360262/) [Tenderness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/tenderness/) [Turns](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/turns/) [Whole](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/whole/) ## Related quotes > [Through small apertures we glimpse abysses whose somber depths turn us faint … Yet over the whole there hovers an extraordinary tenderness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gustave-flaubert/through-small-apertures-we-glimpse-abysses-whose-somber-depths-turn/) [Gustave Flaubert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gustave-flaubert/) > [In each studio there is a human being dressed in the full regalia of his myth fearing to expore a vulnerable opening, spreading not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anais-nin/in-each-studio-there-is-a-human-being-dressed-in-the-full-regalia-of/) [Anais Nin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anais-nin/) > [Christ is the aperture through which the immensity and magnificence of God can be seen.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-bertram-phillips/christ-is-the-aperture-through-which-the-immensity-and-magnificence/) [John Bertram Phillips](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-bertram-phillips/) > [ In 1945 J.A. Ratcliffe ... suggested that I \[join his group at Cavendish Laboratory, Cambridge\] to start an investigation of the radio emission from… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-ryle/in-1945-j-a-ratcliffe-suggested-that-i-join-his-group-at-cavendish/) [Martin Ryle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-ryle/) > [Apertures, passages from one world to another. Man's escape hatches.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/p-k-page/apertures-passages-from-one-world-to-another-man-s-escape-hatches/) [P. K. Page](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/p-k-page/) > [If a man has a tent made of linen of which the apertures have all been stopped up, and be it twelve bracchia across…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leonardo-da-vinci/if-a-man-has-a-tent-made-of-linen-of-which-the-apertures-have-all/) [Leonardo da Vinci](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leonardo-da-vinci/) > [You are an aperture through which the universe is looking at and exploring itself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-watts/you-are-an-aperture-through-which-the-universe-is-looking-at-and/) [Alan Watts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-watts/) > [The tempest unleashes an alphabetletters fall through the apertures of crazy anglesto spell out the futureuprooting the course of inventionand enslaving the masters](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nancy-peters/the-tempest-unleashes-an-alphabetletters-fall-through-the-apertures/) [Nancy Peters](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nancy-peters/) > [Fancy restrained may be compared to a fountain, which plays highest by diminishing the aperture.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oliver-goldsmith/fancy-restrained-may-be-compared-to-a-fountain-which-plays-highest-by/) [Oliver Goldsmith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oliver-goldsmith/) > [Photography isolates the world via an aperture and gives the photographer the means to see differently, to achieve a spontaneous vision that is direct…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ellsworth-kelly/photography-isolates-the-world-via-an-aperture-and-gives-the/) [Ellsworth Kelly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ellsworth-kelly/) > [I fuse light and shadow with aperture; I freeze a moment with speed; I let the unseen seen, the seen unseen with angles; I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ony-ony/i-fuse-light-and-shadow-with-aperture-i-freeze-a-moment-with-speed-i/) [Ony Ony](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ony-ony/) > [Animals used to provide a lowlife way to kill and get away with it, as they do still, but, more intriguingly, for some people…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-hoagland/animals-used-to-provide-a-lowlife-way-to-kill-and-get-away-with-it-as/) [Edward Hoagland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-hoagland/) > [When you narrow down your range and are looking through just that narrow aperture of the lens, the intensity of what you see is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-snow/when-you-narrow-down-your-range-and-are-looking-through-just-that/) [Michael Snow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-snow/) > [The present moment is the only aperture through which the soul can pass out of time into eternity, through which grace can pass out…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aldous-huxley/the-present-moment-is-the-only-aperture-through-which-the-soul-can/) [Aldous Huxley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aldous-huxley/) > [I've decided that what interests me most is that you can only capture the light at a certain time. But after that, five minutes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-luc-godard/i-ve-decided-that-what-interests-me-most-is-that-you-can-only-capture/) [Jean-Luc Godard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-luc-godard/) ## More by Gustave Flaubert > [As for the piano, the faster her fingers flew over it, the more he marveled. She struck the keys with aplomb and ran from…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gustave-flaubert/as-for-the-piano-the-faster-her-fingers-flew-over-it-the-more-he/) [Gustave Flaubert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gustave-flaubert/) > [Caught up in life, you see it badly. You suffer from it or enjoy it too much. The artist, in my opinion, is a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gustave-flaubert/caught-up-in-life-you-see-it-badly-you-suffer-from-it-or-enjoy-it-too/) [Gustave Flaubert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gustave-flaubert/) > [“When one does something, one must do it wholly and well. Those bastard existences where you sell suet all day and write poetry at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gustave-flaubert/when-one-does-something-one-must-do-it-wholly-and-well-those-bastard/) [Gustave Flaubert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gustave-flaubert/) > [Isn’t ‘not to be bored’ one of the principal goals of life?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gustave-flaubert/isn-t-not-to-be-bored-one-of-the-principal-goals-of-life/) [Gustave Flaubert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gustave-flaubert/) > [Love is a springtime plant that perfumes everything with its hope, even the ruins to which it clings.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gustave-flaubert/love-is-a-springtime-plant-that-perfumes-everything-with-its-hope/) [Gustave Flaubert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gustave-flaubert/) > [“But her life was as cold as an attic facing north; and boredom, like a silent spider, was weaving its web in the shadows,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gustave-flaubert/but-her-life-was-as-cold-as-an-attic-facing-north-and-boredom-like-a/) [Gustave Flaubert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gustave-flaubert/) > [When you reduce a woman to writing, she makes you think of a thousand other women](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gustave-flaubert/when-you-reduce-a-woman-to-writing-she-makes-you-think-of-a-thousand/) [Gustave Flaubert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gustave-flaubert/) > [Travel makes one modest. 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 Abyss quotes > [We never think that our mothers will die. It was like suddenly an abyss opened at my feet - I was standing on nothing.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-okri/we-never-think-that-our-mothers-will-die-it-was-like-suddenly-an/) [Ben Okri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-okri/) > [Early on a difficult climb, especially a solo climb, you’re hyper-aware of the abyss pulling at your back, constantly feeling its call, its immense…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jon-krakauer/early-on-a-difficult-climb-especially-a-solo-climb-you-re-hyper-aware/) [Jon Krakauer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jon-krakauer/) > [“The whole organization seemed to be in free fall, indulging in a collective fantasy in which experienced colleagues refused to admit that their every…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-whole-organization-seemed-to-be-in-free-fall-indulging-in-a/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Adam became so proud that he wished to become God and died for his pride; the Son of God humbled Himself unto death, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-of-kronstadt/adam-became-so-proud-that-he-wished-to-become-god-and-died-for-his/) [John of Kronstadt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-of-kronstadt/) > [The cradle rocks above an abyss, and common sense tells us that our existence is but a brief crack of light between two eternities…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vladimir-nabokov/the-cradle-rocks-above-an-abyss-and-common-sense-tells-us-that-our/) [Vladimir Nabokov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vladimir-nabokov/) > [In the end things must be as they are and have always been--the great things remain for the great, the abysses for the profound,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/in-the-end-things-must-be-as-they-are-and-have-always-been-the-great/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [I admire the Elsie Tanners and Barbara Windsors of the world: people who have crawled back from the abyss. I'm quite camp in that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jenny-eclair/i-admire-the-elsie-tanners-and-barbara-windsors-of-the-world-people/) [Jenny Eclair](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jenny-eclair/) > [I've been to unpretty places with the roles I've played, and I'm attracted to reckless abandon. I like being taken to the edge of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rhys-ifans/i-ve-been-to-unpretty-places-with-the-roles-i-ve-played-and-i-m/) [Rhys Ifans](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rhys-ifans/) > [I look into my heart and see the abyss looking back at me.' 'I won't let you fall.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nalini-singh/i-look-into-my-heart-and-see-the-abyss-looking-back-at-me-i-won-t-let/) [Nalini Singh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nalini-singh/) > [There is no drop of water in the ocean, not even in the deepest parts of the abyss, that does not know and respond…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rachel-carson/there-is-no-drop-of-water-in-the-ocean-not-even-in-the-deepest-parts/) [Rachel Carson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rachel-carson/) > [“But first whom shall we send In search of this new world, whom shall we find Sufficient? Who shall tempt, with wand'ring feet The…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-milton/but-first-whom-shall-we-send-in-search-of-this-new-world-whom-shall/) [John Milton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-milton/) > [Many women don’t know what orgasm is. Many men don’t know was total orgasm is. Many only achieve a local orgasm, a genital orgasm;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/many-women-don-t-know-what-orgasm-is-many-men-don-t-know-was-total/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Fear not. For fear itself is fed by fear, and all fears pass. Did no one tell you so? Come take my hand, my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/felix-dennis/fear-not-for-fear-itself-is-fed-by-fear-and-all-fears-pass-did-no-one/) [Felix Dennis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/felix-dennis/) > [God gave the sea the danger and the abyss, but it was in it that He mirrored the sky.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fernando-pessoa/god-gave-the-sea-the-danger-and-the-abyss-but-it-was-in-it-that-he/) [Fernando Pessoa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fernando-pessoa/) > [We belong to an age where apocalypse is our daily bread, coffee's black, and we know we're part of the abyss. Red Spider White…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brian-aldiss/we-belong-to-an-age-where-apocalypse-is-our-daily-bread-coffee-s/) [Brian Aldiss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brian-aldiss/) [Browse all 625 Abyss quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/abyss/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Through small apertures we glimpse abysses whose sombre depths turn us faint. 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