573 Quotes by Charles Baudelaire

"Nature is a word, an allegory, a mold, an embossing, if you will."

"Common sense tells us that the things of the earth exist only a little, and that true reality is only in dreams."

"The will to work must dominate, for art is long and time is brief."

"If the word doesn't exist, invent it; but first be sure it doesn't exist."

"Il était tard; ainsi qu'une médaille neuveLa pleine lune s'étalait,Et la solennité de la nuit, comme un fleuveSur Paris dormant ruisselait."

"Inspiration comes of working every day."

"If rape or arson, poison or the knifeHas wove no pleasing patterns in the stuffOf this drab canvas we accept as life -It is because we are not bold enough!"

"All dark, all bloody, my heart,"

"Minutes, foolish mortal, are the base mineralthat you must not let go of without extracting their gold!"

"Tell me, enigmatical man, whom do you love best, your father,Your mother, your sister, or your brother?I have neither father, nor mother, nor sister, nor brother.Your friends?Now you use a word whose meaning I have never known.Your country?I do not know in what latitude it lies.Beauty?I could indeed love her, Goddess and Immortal.Gold?I hate it as you hate God.Then, what do you love, extraordinary stranger?I love the clouds the clouds that pass up thereUp there the wonderful clouds!"