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
And over your unconsecrated head you'll hear the howling wolves lament their fate and yours the livelong year.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote reflects the inevitability of suffering and the weight of fate that burdens us throughout our lives.
In this passage by Charles Baudelaire, the imagery of 'howling wolves' suggests a constant and haunting presence of despair, which accompanies the speaker throughout the year. It explores the themes of fate and existential anguish, indicating that our struggles and the sorrows of life are persistent and inescapable, symbolized by the wolves lamenting their fate and the speakerβs burden, creating a vivid reflection on the human condition.
Themes
SufferingFateAnguishExistentialismDespair
In practice
Example use cases
In a speech about overcoming adversity, one might quote Baudelaire to illustrate the constant presence of struggle.
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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Take me and cast me where you will; I shall still be possessor of the divinity within me, serene and content.
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Not selfishness, but precisely the absence of a self. Look at them. The man who cheats and lies, but preserves a respectable front. He knows himself to be dishonest, but others think heβs honest and he derives his self-respect from that, second-hand. The man who takes credit for an achievement which is not his own. He knows himself to be mediocre, but heβs great in the eyes of others.
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