Dreams! Always dreams! And the more ambitious and delicate the soul, all the more impossible the dreams. Every man possesses his own dose of natural opium, ceaselessly secreted and renewed, and from birth to death how many hours can we reckon of positive pleasure, of successful and decided action? Shall we ever live in, be part of, that picture my imagination has painted, and that resembles you?—Charles Baudelaire, "L'Invitation Au Voyage," Paris Spleen (1869) (trans. Louise Varèse 1947)
Monday, August 27, 2012
'successful and decided action'
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Ugh. You and Kyle always find the best quotes! Although, I wish the translator didn't pick the word "secreted"...maybe I'm just too squeamish for it. I find it distracting.
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