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

Art is an infinitely precious good, a draught both refreshing and cheering which restores the stomach and the mind to the natural equilibrium of the ideal.

Nothing can be done except little by little.

Genius is simply childhood, rediscovered by an act of will.

It is necessary to work, if not from inclination, at least from despair. Everything considered, work is less boring than amusing oneself.

I am a cemetery abhorred by the moon, In which long worms crawl like remorse.

These beings have no other status, but that of cultivating the idea of beauty in their own persons, of satisfying their passions, of feeling and thinking.... Contrary to what many thoughtless people seem to believe, dandyism is not even an excessive delight in clothes and material elegance. For the perfect dandy, these things are no more than the symbol of the aristocratic superiority of his mind.