Quotes from Charles Baudelaire

Softly as brown-eyed Angels rove I will return to thy alcove, And glide upon the night to thee, Treading the shadows silently. And I will give to thee, my own, Kisses as icy as the moon, And the caresses of a snake Cold gliding in the thorny brake. And when returns the livid morn Thou shalt find all my place forlorn And chilly, till the falling night. Others would rule by tenderness Over thy life and youthfulness, But I would conquer thee by fright!

There is no reasonable, stable government save the aristocratic. Monarchy and republic, based on democracy, are equally weak and absurd. … There exist but three respectable beings: the priest, the warrior, the poet. To know, to kill, and to create. Other men are serfs or slaves, created for the stable, that is, to exercise what are called professions.

Oh foul magnificence, sublime disgrace.

Thy laughter soaked in tears which no one sees.

The mixture of the grotesque and the tragic is agreeable to the spirit, as are discords to the jaded ear.

Music pierces the sky.

For every letter of creditors, write fifty lines on an extraterrestrial subject and you'll be saved.

THE CAT Come, superb cat, to my amorous heart; Hold back the talons of your paws, Let me gaze into your beautiful eyes Of metal and agate. When my fingers leisurely caress you, Your head and your elastic back, And when my hand tingles with the pleasure Of feeling your electric body, In spirit I see my woman. Her gaze Like your own, amiable beast, Profound and cold, cuts and cleaves like a dart, And, from her head down to her feet, A subtle air, a dangerous perfume Floats about her dusky body.

Hypocrite lecteur,—mon semblable,—mon frère!

Nature is a temple in which living pillars Sometimes give voice to confused words;

The beginning of a novel: start a subject, no matter where, and to have the desire to finish, start with very beautiful phrases.

It is regrettable that, among the Rights of Man, the right of contradicting oneself has been forgotten.

Conceive a canvas for a lyrical or fairytale buffoonery, for a pantomime, and translate it into a serious novel. Drown everything in an abnormal and dreamy atmosphere, - in the atmosphere of the great days. - It must be something soothing, - even serene in its passion. - Regions of pure Poetry.

N'es-tu pas l'oasis où je rêve, et la gourde Où je hume à long traits le vin du souvenir ?

The panting lover bending o'er his fair one Looks like a dying man caressing his own tomb

Work makes prosperous days, wine makes happy Sundays. - Wine and Hashish

Passion sits on the skull Of Humanity, And this infidel enthroned Laughs shamelessly, And gaily blows round bubbles That will fly, As if to join with worlds Deep in the sky. Rising on high, the frail Luminous globe, Shatters and bursts its slim soul Like a dream of gold. I hear at each bubble, the skull Moan and contend: 'This vicious, ridiculous game, When will it end? What you are blowing away Again and again, You murderous fiend, is my body My blood and my brain!

Who in the face of love dares speak to me of Hell! - Condemned Women: Delphine and Hippolyta

Hay que ser sublime sin interrupción

A cada minuto nos sentimos aplastados por la idea y la sensación del tiempo. Y no hay más que dos recursos para escapar a esa pesadilla, para olvidarla: el placer y el trabajo. El placer nos gasta. El trabajo nos fortifica. Elijamos

All dark, all bloody, my heart

He is at once a great lazybones, pitifully ambitious, and famous for unhappiness; for his entire life he has had practically nothing but half-baked ideas. The sun of laziness, which ceaselessly glows within him, vaporizes him and gnaws away that half-genius that heaven bestowed upon him.

Les amants des prostituées Sont heureux, dispos et repus; Quant à moi, mes bras sont rompus Pour avoir étreint des nuées.

In this respect you, unworthy companion of my sad life, resemble the public, to whom one must never present the delicate scents that only exasperate them, but instead give them only dung, chosen with care.