There are works which wait, and which one does not understand for a long time; the reason is that they bring answers to questions which have not yet been raised; for the question often arrives a terribly long time after the answer.

The State is to make what is useful. The individual is to make what is beautiful.

A man who marries his mistress leaves a vacancy in that position.

All bad poetry springs from genuine feeling.

The critic has to educate the public; the artist has to educate the critic.

Philanthropy [has become] simply the refuge of people who wish to annoy their fellow creatures.

It is art, and art only, that reveals us to ourselves.