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

Evil is committed without effort, naturally, fatally; goodness is always the product of some art.

Life has but one true charm: the charm of the game. But what if we’re indifferent to whether we win or lose?

Progress, this great heresy of decay.

Evil comes up softly like a flower.

A work of art should be like a well-planned crime.

Those men get along best with women who can get along best without them.

Always be a poet, even in prose.

I felt passing over me the wind of the wing of madness.

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

A silent mouth is sweet to hear.

The People adore authority.

Let us beware of common folk, of common sense, of sentiment, of inspiration, and of the obvious.

I have cultivated my hysteria with pleasure and terror.

Remembering is only a new form of suffering.

I can barely conceive of a type of beauty in which there is no Melancholy.

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

The world progresses only through misunderstanding.

Dance can reveal everything mysterious that is hidden in music