“Like symbolism, decadence puts forth the idea that the function of literature is to evoke impressions and 'correspondences', rather than to realistically depict the world. ... the decadent aestheticized decay and took pleasure in perversity. In decadent literature, sickness is preferable to health, not only because sickness was regarded as more interesting, but because sickness was construed as subversive, as a threat to the very fabric of society. By embracing the marginal, the unhealthy and the deviant, the decadents attacked bourgeois life, which they perceived as the chief enemy of art.”
“I thought it would be such a sick joke to have to remain to be alive for decades and not believe in or feel anything.”
“An age which is incapable of poetry is incapable of any kind of literature except the cleverness of a decadence.”
“I think Gummy Bears should be the universal symbol for peace, because peace leads to prosperity, prosperity leads to decadence, and decadence leads to diabetes.”
“...of all the kinds of decay in this world, decadent purity is the most malignant.”
“By living a life “against nature,” the deviant or pervert becomes a hero or heroine in decadent fiction.”