Human speech is like a cracked kettle on which we tap crude rhythms for bears to dance… — Gustave Flaubert
Human speech is like a cracked kettle on which we tap crude rhythms for bears to dance to, while we long to make music that will melt the stars.
In the original French
La parole humaine est comme un chaudron fele ou nous battons des melodies a faire danser les ours, quand on vondrait attendrir les etoiles.
Madame Bovary · 1856
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Current citation
Flaubert, Gustave. Madame Bovary, edited and translated by Lydia Davis. Penguin Classics, 2011, pt. 2, ch. 12.
Original citation
Flaubert, Gustave. Madame Bovary: Moeurs de Province [Madame Bovary: Provincial Manners]. Revue de Paris, 1 Oct. 1856 - 15 Dec. 1856. Serial.
