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
What do I care if you are good? Be beautiful! and be sad!
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote emphasizes the value of beauty and emotional depth over moral goodness.
Charles Baudelaire's quote highlights a preference for beauty and the depth of human emotion, even if it comes with sadness, over the superficial measurement of goodness. It suggests that authentic experiences and aesthetic appreciation are more significant than conforming to societal norms of morality, celebrating the complexity of human existence.
Themes
BeautyEmotionSadnessArtPhilosophy
In practice
Example use cases
This quote can be used in a discussion about the nature of art and its relationship to human emotions.
More from Charles Baudelaire
All quotes βThe 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.
Charles BaudelaireRead
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.
Charles BaudelaireRead
There is no sweeter pleasure than to surprise a man by giving him more than he hopes for.
Charles BaudelaireRead
The priest is an immense being because he makes the crowd believe astonishing things.
Charles BaudelaireRead
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.
Charles BaudelaireRead
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Music and the arts feed our souls, but a decent wage puts food on the table. Musicians, fans of music, and grassroots political organizations are a potent force to fight for social justice.
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Books are seldom useful unless they are also beautiful.
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Music expresses that which cannot be said and on which it is impossible to be silent.
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If you can make people understand why freedom is so important through the arts, that would be a big help.
Aung San Suu KyiRead
One writes such a story [The Lord of the Rings] not out of the leaves of trees still to be observed, nor by means of botany and soil-science; but it grows like a seed in the dark out of the leaf-mold of the mind: out of all that has been seen or thought or read, that has long ago been forgotten, descending into the deeps. No doubt there is much personal selection, as with a gardener: what one throws on one's personal compost-heap; and my mold is evidently made largely of linguistic matter.
J. R. R. TolkienRead