Charles Baudelaire was a poet, translator, writer and art critic from France; who lived in the 19th century and produced a body of work that is considered among the finest by literature enthusiasts. Baudelaire is regarded as a great moderniser of the French literature and his biggest innovation was the introduction of the ‘prose-poetry’. The ‘prose-poetry’ style in poems went on to inspire many of the leading French poets like Stephane Malarme and Paul Verlaine among others. The book of poetry titled ‘The Flowers of Evil’ published in 1857 remains his most well-known work and is widely regarded as his greatest work. Baudelaire was also an art critic of great standing in the Parisian art press and in addition to that he was also a popular essayist. Among his works of translation; the most famous is the translated version of the works of American short story writer and poet Edgar Allan Poe. Among his other contributions to the world of French literature is the word ‘modernity’ that he coined in order to describe the life of people in a large city. Baudelaire was a man of great depth and intellect and his life and work are also the sources of great quotes which can inspire people even today. Here are some of the selected ones.
There are women who inspire you with the desire to conquer them and to take your pleasure of them; but this one fills you only with the desire to die slowly beneath her gaze.
What can an eternity of damnation matter to someone who has felt, if only for a second, the infinity of delight?
Charles Baudelaire
The Devil pulls the strings which make us dance;
We find delight in the most loathsome things;
Some furtherance of Hell each new day brings,
And yet we feel no horror in that rank advance.
He who looks through an open window sees fewer things than he who looks through a closed window.
Charles Baudelaire
The Poet is a kinsman in the clouds
Who scoffs at archers, loves a stormy day;
But on the ground, among the hooting crowds,
He cannot walk, his wings are in the way.
