Man has made use of his intelligence; he invented stupidity. Remy de Gourmont More Quotes by Remy de Gourmont More Quotes From Remy de Gourmont To write well, to have style ... is to paint. The master faculty of style is therefore the visual memory. If a writer does not see what he describes-countrysides and figures, movements and gestures-how could he have a style, that is originality? Remy de Gourmont stylewritingmemories Nothing exists except by virtue of a disequilibrium, an injustice. All existence is a theft paid for by other existences; no life flowers except on a cemetery. Remy de Gourmont injusticeflowerlife Cliche refers to words, commonplace to ideas. Cliche describes the form or the letter, commonplace the substance or spirit. To confuse them is to confuse the thought with the expression of the thought. The cliche is immediately perceivable; the commonplace very often escapes notice if decked out in original dress. There are few examples, in any literature, of new ideas expressed in original form. The most critical mind must often be content with one or the other of these pleasures, only too happy when it is not deprived of both at once, which is not too rarely the case. Remy de Gourmont often-isexpressionideas The pleasure of being a scoundrel can be adequately savored in silence. Remy de Gourmont scoundrelspleasuresilence Extraordinarily excessive sensuality it may be .. but it all comes down to the same thing in the end, and one means is surely as good as another, since the end obtained is always the same. In any case the exceptional, endlessly repeated, is no different than the banal; and unceasing recapitulation can add nothing, in the end, to the sum of experience. I am weary and hopeless three times the dupe. Why have you trained me in the shame of abominable sins? Remy de Gourmont differentlustmean For two thousand years Christianity has been telling us: life is death, death is life; it is high time to consult the dictionary. Remy de Gourmont wisdomtwoyears The terrible thing about the quest for truth is that you find it. Remy de Gourmont questswisdomtruth The ever-present phenomenon ceases to exist for our senses. It was a city dweller, or a prisoner, or a blind man suddenly given his sight, who first noted natural beauty. Remy de Gourmont sightbeautymen Women still remember the first kiss after men have forgotten the last. Remy de Gourmont womenkissinglove Modesty is the delicate form of hypocrisy. Remy de Gourmont modestyformhypocrisy An imbecile is never bored: he contemplates himself. Remy de Gourmont imbecilescontemplatingbored Intelligence, that sublimation of the sensibility, that organ of the need to know, is sterilized sensibility. Remy de Gourmont intellectorgansneeds Good books are irrefutable, and bad books refute themselves. Remy de Gourmont good-bookbook Born of the sensibility, art sows and creates life in its turn. Remy de Gourmont turnsbornart To know what everyone knows is to know nothing. Remy de Gourmont knows Man, in spite of his tendency towards mendacity, has a great respect for what he calls the truth. Truth is his staff in his voyage through life; commonplaces are the bread in his bag and the wine in his jug. Remy de Gourmont jugswinemen In order to understand life it is not only necessary not to be indifferent to men, but not to be indifferent to flocks, to trees. One should be indifferent to nothing. Remy de Gourmont treemenorder And there is neither beginning nor end, nor past nor future; there is only a present, at the same time static and ephemeral, multiple and absolute. It is the vital ocean in which we all share, according to our strength, our needs or our desires. Remy de Gourmont oceandesirepast The woman who loves always smells good. Remy de Gourmont love-alwayssmell A definition is a sack of flour compressed into a thimble Remy de Gourmont flourdefinitions
