Nature... is nothing but the inner voice of self-interest.

Quote by Charles Baudelaire

Topics: Charles Baudelaire Quotes

Any man who does not accept the conditions of life sells his soul.

Any man who does not accept the conditions of life sells his soul.

Everything for me becomes allegory.

Everything for me becomes allegory.

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.

I have more memories than if I were a thousand years old.

I have more memories than if I were a thousand years old.

The poet enjoys the incomparable privilege of being able to be himself and others, as...

The poet enjoys the incomparable privilege of being able to be himself and others, as...

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

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

A frenzied passion for art is a canker that devours everything else.

A frenzied passion for art is a canker that devours everything else.

Beauty is the sole ambition, the exclusive goal of Taste.

Beauty is the sole ambition, the exclusive goal of Taste.

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...

The unique and supreme voluptuousness of love lies in the certainty of committing evil. And...

The unique and supreme voluptuousness of love lies in the certainty of committing evil. And...

It is from the womb of art that criticism was born.

It is from the womb of art that criticism was born.

Even in the centuries which appear to us to be the most monstrous and foolish,...

Even in the centuries which appear to us to be the most monstrous and foolish,...

I consider it useless and tedious to represent what exists, because nothing that exists satisfies...

I consider it useless and tedious to represent what exists, because nothing that exists satisfies...

To be a great man and a saint for oneself, that is the only important...

To be a great man and a saint for oneself, that is the only important...

It is the hour to be drunken! to escape being the martyred slaves of time,...

It is the hour to be drunken! to escape being the martyred slaves of time,...

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.

Nothing can be done except little by little.

Nothing can be done except little by little.

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...

My arms have mutinied against me brutes! My fingers fidget like ten idle brats, My...

My arms have mutinied against me brutes! My fingers fidget like ten idle brats, My...

Take a commonplace, clean it and polish it, light it so that it produces the...

Take a commonplace, clean it and polish it, light it so that it produces the...

Progress imposes not only new possibilities for the future but new restrictions

Progress imposes not only new possibilities for the future but new restrictions