Chance is the pseudonym of God when he did not want to sign. Theophile Gautier More Quotes by Theophile Gautier More Quotes From Theophile Gautier If you are worthy of its affection, a cat will be your friend but never your slave. Theophile Gautier affection slave cat Any man who does not have his inner world to translate is not an artist. Theophile Gautier artist doe men 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. Theophile Gautier passion heart men White men should exhibit the same insensibility to moral tortures that red men do to physical torments. Theophile Gautier red white men Art is beauty, the perpetual invention of detail, the choice of words, the exquisite care of execution. Theophile Gautier care choices art Once [a cat] has given its love, what absolute confidence, what fidelity of affection! Theophile Gautier fidelity affection cat Those horses must have been Spanish jennets, born of mares mated with a zephyr; for they went as swiftly as the wind, and the moon, which had risen at our departure to give us light, rolled through the sky like a wheel detached from its carriage. Theophile Gautier horse moon travel What I write is not for little girls. Theophile Gautier girl writing littles The years I have squandered in puerile excitement, in going hither and thither, in seeking to force nature and time, I ought to have spent in solitude and meditation, in endeavoring to make myself worthy of being loved. Theophile Gautier meditation patience years Cats are the tigers of us poor devils. Theophile Gautier devil cat poor The word poet literally means maker: anything which is not well made doesn't exist. Theophile Gautier poet makers mean Only that which serves no end is beautiful; everything useful is ugly. Theophile Gautier ugly ends beautiful [A cat] will lie the whole evening on your knee, purring and happy in your society. Theophile Gautier knees cat lying Literature has nothing to do with usefulness; the most useful place in any house is the toilet. Theophile Gautier literature house writing There is nothing truly beautiful but that which can never be of any use whatsoever; everything useful is ugly, for it is the expression of some need, and man's needs are ignoble and disgusting like his own poor and infirm nature. The most useful place in a house is the water-closet. Theophile Gautier beautiful beauty men 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. Theophile Gautier gratitude cutting heart To extract beauty from one's own milieu is one of the most difficult tasks of art. Theophile Gautier tasks beauty art It may well be that the pictures of Courbet, Manet, Monet and their like contain beauties which escape the notice of such old romantic heads as ours, already streaked with silver threads. Theophile Gautier aging silver may With all women gentleness is the most persuasive and powerful argument. Theophile Gautier persuasive argument powerful Fortune loves to give bedroom slippers to people with wooden legs, and gloves to those with no hands. Theophile Gautier fate hands people