“Hypocrite reader -- my fellow -- my brother!”

“C'est l'Ennui! —l'œil chargé d'un pleur involontaire,Il rêve d'échafauds en fumant son houka.Tu le connais, lecteur, ce monstre délicat,—Hypocrite lecteur,—mon semblable,—mon frère!”

“My heart is lost; the beasts have eaten it.”

“I have cultivated my hysteria with pleasure and terror.”

“I set out to discover the why of it, and to transform my pleasure into knowledge.”

“Go then, a starveling girl With no perfume or pearls, Only your nudity O my beauty!”

“As a small child, I felt in my heart two contradictory feelings, the horror of life and the ecstasy of life.”