Explore Quotes by Theophile Gautier

I was born to travel and write verse.

Art is beauty, the perpetual invention of detail, the choice of words, the exquisite care of execution.

Any man who does not have his inner world to translate is not an artist.

It is difficult to obtain the friendship of a cat. It is a philosophical animal... one that does not place its affections thoughtlessly.

Sometimes he will sit on the carpet in front of you, looking at you with eyes so melting, so caressing and so human, that they almost frighten you, for it is impossible to believe that a soul is not there.

[A cat] will make itself the companion of your hours of work, of loneliness, or of sadness.

It is difficult to obtain the friendship of a cat.

[A cat] will lie the whole evening on your knee, purring and happy in your society.

Once [a cat] has given its love, what absolute confidence, what fidelity of affection!

If you are worthy of its affection, a cat will be your friend but never your slave.

It is a difficult matter to gain the affection of a cat. He is a philosophical, methodical animal, tenacious of his own habits, fond of order and neatness, and disinclined to extravagant sentiment. He will be your friend, if he finds you worthy of friendship, but not your slave.

Whatever 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.

What well-bred woman would refuse her heart to a man who had just saved her life? Not one; and gratitude is a short cut which speedily leads to love.