“Paris, however―because of her purely fortuitous beauty, because of the old things which have become a part of her, because of her entanglement of buildings and tenements―Paris yields herself in discovery as an attic beloved in our childhood gave up its secrets.”

“The instinct of nearly all societies is to lock up anybody who is truly free. First, society begins by trying to beat you up. If this fails, they try to poison you. If this fails too, the finish by loading honors on your head.”

“The poet doesn't invent. He listens.”

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

“Poetry is indispensable - if I only knew what for.”

“Life is a horizontal fall.”

“The extreme limit of wisdom, that's what the public calls madness.”

“I have a piece of great and sad news to tell you: I am dead.”

“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.”

“The reward of art is not fame or success but intoxication: that is why so many bad artists are unable to give it up.”

“An artist cannot speak about his art any more than a plant can discuss horticulture.”