A prig always finds a last refuge in responsibility.

Alas! I do not believe that inspiration falls from heaven. think it rather the result of a profound indolence.

A true poet does not bother to be poetical. Nor does a nursery gardener scent his roses.

Art is not a pastime but a priesthood.

Since it's now fashionable to laugh at the conservative French Academy, I have remained a rebel by joining it.

Art produces ugly things which frequently become more beautiful with time. Fashion, on the other hand, produces beautiful things which always become ugly with time.

There are truths which one can only say after having won the right to say them.