Barbarism is needed every four or five hundred years to bring the world back to life. Otherwise it would die of civilization.

Quote by Edmond De Goncourt

Topics: Edmond De Goncourt Quotes

To call war the soil of courage and virtue is like calling debauchery the soil...

To call war the soil of courage and virtue is like calling debauchery the soil...

Genius is the talent of a person who is dead.

Genius is the talent of a person who is dead.

The English are crooked as a nation and honest as individuals. The contrary is true...

The English are crooked as a nation and honest as individuals. The contrary is true...

That which, perhaps, hears more nonsense than anything in the world, is a picture in...

That which, perhaps, hears more nonsense than anything in the world, is a picture in...

If there is a God, atheism must seem to Him as less of an insult...

If there is a God, atheism must seem to Him as less of an insult...

People don't like the true and simple; they like fairy tales and humbug.

People don't like the true and simple; they like fairy tales and humbug.

The newspaper is the natural enemy of the book, as the whore is of the...

The newspaper is the natural enemy of the book, as the whore is of the...

A poet is a man who puts up a ladder to a star and climbs...

A poet is a man who puts up a ladder to a star and climbs...

Man is a mind betrayed, not served, by his organs.

Man is a mind betrayed, not served, by his organs.

Laughter is the mind's intonation. There are ways of laughing which have the sound of...

Laughter is the mind's intonation. There are ways of laughing which have the sound of...

Debauchery is perhaps an act of despair in the face of infinity.

Debauchery is perhaps an act of despair in the face of infinity.

If there is a God, atheism must seem to Him as less of an insult...

If there is a God, atheism must seem to Him as less of an insult...

Today I begin to understand what love must be, if it exists... When we are...

Today I begin to understand what love must be, if it exists... When we are...

A painting in a museum hears more ridiculous opinions than anything else in the world.

A painting in a museum hears more ridiculous opinions than anything else in the world.

Historians tell the story of the past, novelists the story of the present.

Historians tell the story of the past, novelists the story of the present.

As a general truth, it is safe to say that any picture that produces a...

As a general truth, it is safe to say that any picture that produces a...