History is a novel that has been lived, a novel is history that could have been. — Edmond de Goncourt
Surely nothing has to listen to so many stupid remarks as a painting in a museum. — Edmond de Goncourt
A poet is a man who puts up a ladder to a star and climbs it while playing a violin. — Edmond de Goncourt
Barbarism is needed every four or five hundred years to bring the world back to life. — Edmond de Goncourt
That which, perhaps, hears more nonsense than anything in the world, is a picture in a museum. — Edmond de Goncourt
Laughter is the mind’s intonation. There are ways of laughing which have the sound of counterfeit coins. — Edmond de Goncourt
A painting in a museum hears more ridiculous opinions than anything else in the world. — Edmond de Goncourt
As a general truth, it is safe to say that any picture that produces a moral impression is a bad picture. — Edmond de Goncourt
The reason for the sadness of this modern age and the men who live in it is that. — Edmond de Goncourt