To be stupid, and selfish, and to have good health are the three requirements for happiness, though if stupidity is lacking, the others are useless.

Variant translation: To be stupid, selfish, and have good health are three requirements for happiness, though if stupidity is lacking, all is lost.

Letter to Louise Colet, 13 August 1846 in Selected Letters (1954), translated by F. Steegmuller.

Gustave Flaubert Quotes

To be stupid, and selfish, and to have good health are the three requirements for happiness, though if stupidity is lacking, the others are useless.

To be stupid, and selfish, and to have good health are the three requirements for happiness, though if stupidity is lacking, the others are useless.

To be stupid, and selfish, and to have good health are the three requirements for happiness, though if stupidity is lacking, the others are useless.

To be stupid, and selfish, and to have good health are the three requirements for happiness, though if stupidity is lacking, the others are useless.