"Do not read, as children do, to amuse yourself, or like the ambitious, for the purpose of instruction. No, read in order to live"

Gustave Flaubert’s assertion, "Do not read, as children do, to amuse yourself, or like the ambitious, for the purpose of instruction. No, read in order to live", suggests a radical view on the purpose of engaging with literature. He rejects the two most commonplace motivations for reading: simple amusement and mere acquisition of knowledge. Amusement, associated with the innocence of childhood, is not dismissed out of hand but considered insufficient for adulthood, a time for deeper engagements. Similarly, reading exclusively to gain instruction, to accumulate facts or skills for the sake of success or advancement, is not enough; such an approach is utilitarian and risks reducing books to mere tools.

By suggesting that one should "read in order to live", Flaubert positions reading as central to the experience of life itself. Reading becomes not just a pastime or an educational device, but an essential act, a way to encounter the world, to access new realms of thought, feeling, and consciousness. Through literature, we expand the boundaries of our own lives; stories, poems, and essays allow us to inhabit other perspectives, epochs, and sensibilities. Reading 'to live' implies immersion, engagement, and transformation: books shape who we are, how we feel, and the way in which we understand everything that surrounds us.

The word "live" signals a passion and fullness that goes beyond passive entertainment or the gathering of clever ideas. Flaubert is advocating for a relationship with literature that is vital and dynamic, one that provides sustenance for the soul and mind. To read in this way is to embrace books as windows to being itself. It points to literature as nourishment, as experience, as a necessary spark in the complex continual process of becoming fully alive. Reading, then, is not an escape from life nor a mere adjunct to it; instead, reading becomes life’s very pulse, its breath, and a primary means by which we engage with the meaning and richness of existence.