That which is not slightly distorted lacks sensible appeal; from which it follows that irregularity β that is to say, the unexpected, surprise and astonishment, are a essential part and characteristic of beauty.
Charles BaudelaireRead
Everything that is beautiful and noble is the product of reason and calculation.
Interpretation
True beauty and nobility stem from careful thought and logical reasoning.
In this quote, Baudelaire suggests that all that we consider beautiful and noble is not merely a result of emotion or chance, but rather the outcome of deliberate reasoning and meticulous planning. It emphasizes the idea that aesthetics and virtue are intertwined with rationality, and that appreciating beauty involves understanding the thought processes behind it.
In practice
This quote can be used in a speech about the intersection of art and logic.
That which is not slightly distorted lacks sensible appeal; from which it follows that irregularity β that is to say, the unexpected, surprise and astonishment, are a essential part and characteristic of beauty.
The dance can reveal everything mysterious that is hidden in music, and it has the additional merit of being human and palpable. Dancing is poetry with arms and legs.
Who among us has not dreamt, in moments of ambition, of the miracle of a poetic prose, musical without rhythm and rhyme, supple and staccato enough to adapt to the lyrical stirrings of the soul, the undulations of dreams, and sudden leaps of consciousness.
There is no sweeter pleasure than to surprise a man by giving him more than he hopes for.
The priest is an immense being because he makes the crowd believe astonishing things.
I consider it useless and tedious to represent what exists, because nothing that exists satisfies me. Nature is ugly, and I prefer the monsters of my fancy to what is positively trivial.
I am not tired of my work, neither am I tired of the world; yet, when Christ calls me home, I shall go with gladness.
Forgive him, for he believes that the customs of his tribe are the laws of nature!
The self cannot be self without other selves.
If a coin comes down heads, that means that the possibility of its coming down tails has collapsed. Until that moment the two possibilities were equal. But on another world, it does come down tails. And when that happens, the two worlds split apart.
Addiction is when you can't get enough of what you don't want any more.
No one is free who has not obtained the empire of himself.
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