Genius is nothing more or less than childhood recovered by will, a childhood how equipped for self-expression with an adult's capacities.

My love, do you recall the object which we saw, That fair, sweet, summer morn! At a turn in the path a foul carcass On a gravel strewn bed, Its legs raised in the air, like a lustful woman, Burning and dripping with poisons, Displayed in a shameless, nonchalant way Its belly, swollen with gases.

Where one should see only what is beautiful, our public looks only for what is true.

There is no dream of love, however ideal it may be, which does not end up with a fat, greedy baby hanging from the breast.

The priest is an immense being because he makes the crowd believe astonishing things.

I have to confess that I had gambled on my soul and lost it with heroic insouciance and lightness of touch. The soul is so impalpable, so often useless, and sometimes such a nuisance, that I felt no more emotion on losing it than if, on a stroll, I had mislaid my visiting card.

Forest, I fear you! In my ruined heart your roaring wakens the same agony as in cathedrals when the organ moans and from the depths I hear that I am damned.