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101 " Our fine arts were developed, their types and uses were established, in times very different from the present, by men whose power of action upon things was insignificant in comparison with ours. But the amazing growth of our techniques, the adaptability and precision they have attained, the ideas and habits they are creating, make it a certainty that profound changes are impending in the ancient craft of the Beautiful. In all the arts there is a physical component which can no longer be considered or treated as it used to be, which cannot remain unaffected by our modern knowledge and power. For the last twenty years neither matter nor space nor time has been what it was from time immemorial. We must expect great innovations to transform the entire technique of the arts, thereby affecting artistic invention itself and perhaps even bringing about an amazing change in our very notion of art. "
― Paul Valéry
102 " I would hear the song of the columns and visualize in the pure sky the monument of a melody. "
― Paul Valéry , Dialogues
103 " Lo más profundo del hombre es la piel. "
104 " There is no theory that is not a fragment, carefully prepared, of some autobiography. "
105 " Every ironist has in mind a pretentious reader, mirror of himself. "
106 " Ces jours qui te semblent videsEt perdus pour l’universOnt des racines avidesQui travaillent les déserts "
107 " Admirable man, who know teeth by dreams, think you that all those of philosophers are decayed? "
108 " The confused murmur of his nights began to rise, expected but not familiar "
109 " Modern man no longer works at what cannot be abbreviated "
110 " Skilled verse is the work of a profound skeptic. "
― Paul Valéry , The Art of Poetry
111 " Ingres’ pencil pursues ideal grace to the point of monstrosity: the spine never long and supple enough, the neck flexible enough, the thighs smooth enough, or all the curves of the body sufficiently beguiling to the eye, which envelopes and caresses more than it seems them. The Odalisque, with a hint of the plesiosaurus about her, makes one wonder what might have resulted from a carefully controlled selection, through the centuries, of a breed of woman specially designed for pleasure – as the English horse is bred for racing. "
― Paul Valéry , Degas Danse Dessin
112 " History is the most dangerous product evolved from the chemistry of the intellect. "
113 " An alone man is always badly accompanied. "
114 " Men differ by what they show, and have in common what they hide. "
115 " Ce qu'il y a de plus profond dans l'homme, c'est la peau. "
116 " A difficulty is a light ; an insurmountable difficulty is a sun . "
117 " As for the world, all reality has no other excuse for existence except to offer the poet the chance to play a sublime match against it -- a match that is list in advance. "
― Paul Valéry , An Anthology
118 " To summarize a poem or put it into prose is quite simply to misunderstand the essence of an art. "
119 " I am the only medium for your fears. "
120 " The attentive reading of a book is really a continuous commentary, a succession of notes that emanate from the inner voice. "