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
Hypocrite reader my fellow my brother!
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote addresses the reader directly, suggesting a relationship of solidarity and shared human flaws such as hypocrisy.
In this quote, Charles Baudelaire presents a provocative invitation to acknowledge our shared imperfections, particularly hypocrisy. By addressing the reader as 'my fellow my brother', he emphasizes a sense of kinship, reminding us that we all face moral contradictions and complexities within ourselves. It calls for a deeper reflection on our own nature and the struggles we share as human beings.
Themes
HypocrisyHuman NatureSelf-ReflectionBrotherhoodPhilosophy
In practice
Example use cases
In a philosophy class discussion about human nature.
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
Similar quotes
Yoga is not a practice - the word 'yoga' means union. It does not mean standing on your head, twisting your body, or holding your breath. Yoga means to know the union of life. When you experience everything as a part of yourself, you are in yoga.
Jaggi VasudevRead
Sovereignty is not given, it is taken.
Mustafa Kemal AtaturkRead
People have fallen into a foolish habit of speaking of orthodoxy as something heavy, humdrum, and safe. There never was anything so perilous or so exciting as orthodoxy. It was sanity: and to be sane is more dramatic than to be mad.
Gilbert K. ChestertonRead
The past is only an unreliable memory held in the present. The future is only a projection of our present conceptions. The present itself vanishes as soon as we try to grasp it. So why bother with attempting to establish an illusion of solid ground?
Dilgo Khyentse RinpocheRead
It used to be widely held that evil was incompatible with the existence of God: that no possible world contained both God and evil. So far as I am able tell, this thesis is no longer defended
Peter Van InwagenRead
What makes Iago evil? Some people ask. I never ask.
Joan DidionRead