“The study of beauty is a duel in which the artist cries out in terror before being vanquished.”

“L'étude du beau est un duel où l'artiste crie de frayeur avant d'être vaincu.”

“All which is beautiful and noble is the result of reason and calculation.”

“Fruit free of any bruises, not yet broken open, / With flesh so firm and smooth, it cried out to be eaten!”

“That which is not slightly distorted lacks sensible appeal; from which it follows that irregularity—that is to say, the unexpected, surprise and astonishment, are an essential part and characteristic of beauty.”

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

“It is at despair at not being able to be noble and beautiful by natural means that we have made up our faces so strangely.”