There is nothing truly beautiful but that which can never be of any use whatsoever; everything useful is ugly, for it is the expression of some need, and man's needs are ignoble and disgusting like his own poor and infirm nature. The most useful place in a house is the water-closet.
Theophile GautierArt is beauty, the perpetual invention of detail, the choice of words, the exquisite care of execution.
Theophile GautierYes I have loved, as no one on earth ever loved, with an insensate and furious love, so violent that I wonder it did not break my heart
Theophile GautierWhatever may have been said of the satiety of pleasure and of the disgust which usually follows passion, any man who has anything of a heart and who is not wretchedly and hopelessly blasé feels his love increased by his happiness, and very often the best way to retain a lover ready to leave is to give one's self up to him without reserve.
Theophile Gautier