“I am quite incapable of understanding how any work of art can be criticized from a moral standpoint. The sphere of art and the sphere of ethics are absolutely distinct and separate.”

“Diversity of opinion about a work of art shows that the work is new, complex, and vital.When critics disagree the artist is in accord with himself.We can forgive a man for making a useful thing as long as he does not admire it. The only excuse for making a useless thing is that one admires it intensely.All art is quite useless.”

“What the paradox was to me in the sphere of thought, perversitybecame to me in the sphere of passion. Desire, at the end, was amalady, or a madness, or both.”

“The moment you think you understand a great work of art, it's dead for you.”

“One should either be a work of art, or wear a work of art.”

“All art is quite useless.”

“Morality, like art, means drawing a line someplace.”