Who would dare assign to art the sterile function of imitating nature?

Quote by Charles Baudelaire

Topics: Charles Baudelaire Quotes

What is exhilarating in bad taste is the aristocratic pleasure of giving offense.

What is exhilarating in bad taste is the aristocratic pleasure of giving offense.

Our religion is itself profoundly sad - a religion of universal anguish, and one which,...

Our religion is itself profoundly sad - a religion of universal anguish, and one which,...

I have cultivated my hysteria with pleasure and terror.

I have cultivated my hysteria with pleasure and terror.

The pleasure we derive from the representation of the present is due, not only to...

The pleasure we derive from the representation of the present is due, not only to...

In order for the artist to have a world to express he must first be...

In order for the artist to have a world to express he must first be...

For each letter received from a creditor, write fifty lines on an extraterrestrial subject and...

For each letter received from a creditor, write fifty lines on an extraterrestrial subject and...

The world only goes round by misunderstanding.

The world only goes round by misunderstanding.

Everything considered, work is less boring than amusing oneself.

Everything considered, work is less boring than amusing oneself.

Everything that is beautiful and noble is the product of reason and calculation.

Everything that is beautiful and noble is the product of reason and calculation.

In literature as in ethics, there is danger, as well as glory, in being subtle....

In literature as in ethics, there is danger, as well as glory, in being subtle....

Poetry and progress are like two ambitious men who hate one another with an instinctive...

Poetry and progress are like two ambitious men who hate one another with an instinctive...

It would be difficult for me not to conclude that the most perfect type of...

It would be difficult for me not to conclude that the most perfect type of...

Whether you come from heaven or hell, what does it matter, O Beauty!

Whether you come from heaven or hell, what does it matter, O Beauty!

How little remains of the man I once was, save the memory of him! But...

How little remains of the man I once was, save the memory of him! But...

Modernity is the transitory, the fugitive, the contingent, which make up one half of art,...

Modernity is the transitory, the fugitive, the contingent, which make up one half of art,...

Nearly all our originality comes from the stamp that time impresses upon our sensibility.

Nearly all our originality comes from the stamp that time impresses upon our sensibility.

To handle a language skillfully is to practice a kind of evocative sorcery.

To handle a language skillfully is to practice a kind of evocative sorcery.

But a dandy can never be a vulgar man.

But a dandy can never be a vulgar man.

Anybody, providing he knows how to be amusing, has the right to talk about himself.

Anybody, providing he knows how to be amusing, has the right to talk about himself.

The life of our city is rich in poetic and marvelous subjects. We are enveloped...

The life of our city is rich in poetic and marvelous subjects. We are enveloped...