whole world.
The sight of a man daring to judge his neighbour would send me into
convulsions of laughter if it did not arouse my disgust and pity, and if
I were not at the present moment" (he was at that time engaged in
studying for the law) "obliged to study a system of absurdities, by
virtue of which men consider that they acquire the right to judge. I
know of nothing so absurd as law, except, perhaps, the study of it." In
another letter he confesses that he never could understand the abstract
and dry conception of duty, and that "it did not seem to him to be
inherent in the nature of mankind (_il ne me parait pas inherent aux
entrailles humaines_)." Evidently, then he believes as little in the
idea of justice as he does in that of fraternity. As a matter of fact,
he has no moral ideal.

"There is only one thing in the world that I really value, and that is
beautiful verse; an elegant, harmonious, melodious style; the warmth of
the sun; a picturesque landscape; moonlight nights; antique statues, and
the character in a profile.... I am a fatalist, in fact, like a
Mahometan, and I believe that all that we do for the progress of
humanity is of no use. As to this idea of progress, I am mentally
incapable of grasping such nebulous and dreary conceptions. All the
nonsense talked on this subject simply bores me beyond endurance.... I
cherish a deep respect for the ancient form of tyranny, for to me it is
the finest expression of humanity that has ever been made manifest." "I
have few convictions," he writes to Georges Sand, "but one of those I
have I cherish firmly--it is the conviction that the masses are always
composed of idiots. And yet one may not consider the masses as stupid,
because within them is concealed the seed of an incalculable fecundity
(_d'une fecondite incalculable_)."

Flaubert makes a half-jesting attempt to contrast the doctrines of the
socialists with his own ideas of the political order of the future. "The
only logical conclusion is an administration consisting of mandarins, if
only these mandarins be possessed of some knowledge, and if possible,
even considerable knowledge. The mass of the people will thus always
remain as minors, and will always hold the lowest place in the hierarchy
of the social orders, seeing that it is composed of unlimited
numbers.... In this lawful aristocracy of the present time is our whole
salvation." ... "Humanity represents nothing new. Its irremediable
worthlessness fil