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
Where are the dogs going? you people who pay so little attention ask. They are going about their business. And they are very punctilious, without wallets, notes, and without briefcases.
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote reflects on the focused, simple, and purposeful nature of dogs compared to human distractions.
In this quote, Charles Baudelaire illustrates the unfocused and often chaotic nature of human life in contrast to the straightforward and dedicated existence of dogs. He suggests that while people often overlook the significance of dogs' actions and purpose, these animals are engaged in their own lives, free from the burdens of material possessions and societal expectations, serving as a reminder of the beauty in simplicity and attentiveness to one's own path.
Themes
DogsLifePurposeAttentionSimplicity
In practice
Example use cases
This quote can be used in a speech about finding happiness in the simple things.
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
When a daffadill I see, Hanging down his head towards me, Guess I may, what I must be: First, I shall decline my head; Secondly, I shall be dead: Lastly, safely buryed.
Robert HerrickRead
The freer that women become, the freer men will be. Because when you enslave someone, you are enslaved.
Louise Berliawsky NevelsonRead
Pacifism, the preaching of peace in the abstract, is one of the means of duping the working class.
Vladimir LeninRead
Even victors are by victories undone.
John DrydenRead
The connections I draw between human nature and political systems in my new book, for example, were prefigured in the debates during the Enlightenment and during the framing of the American Constitution.
Steven PinkerRead
They tell us that suicide is the greatest piece of cowardice... that suicide is wrong; when it is quite obvious that there is nothing in the world to which every man has a more unassailable title than to his own life and person.
Arthur SchopenhauerRead