Inspirational Quotes by Comte de Lautreamont (French Prose Poet)

Comte de Lautréamont (1846–70,) born Isidore Lucien Ducasse, was a French poet whose dark, surreal imagery left a lasting mark on modern literature, especially among the Surrealists.

Born in Montevideo, Uruguay, he was sent to France for schooling and studied at the imperial lycées in Tarbes and Pau before moving to Paris in 1867. He lived in near-total obscurity, wholly dedicated to writing, though little is known about his personal life.

His most famous work, Les Chants de Maldoror (1868–69,) is a haunting prose poem filled with grotesque, violent imagery and themes of rebellion and evil. Initially published anonymously, its disturbing content limited its distribution. The work first appeared in Belgium and Switzerland, where Ducasse hoped readers would be more open to his “poetry of revolt,” a provocative blend of blasphemy, sexual obscenity, and vivid hallucinations.

Shortly before his early death, he released Poésies (1870) under his own name—a sharp stylistic turn from Maldoror—advocating rationalism and moral clarity. Les Chants de Maldoror was republished in 1890, including additional fragments.

His writings remained obscure until the early 20th century, when Surrealists claimed him as a precursor. His work strongly influenced André Breton, Alfred Jarry, and other avant-garde figures.

More: Wikipedia • READ: Works by Comte de Lautreamont

The great universal family of men is a utopia worthy of the most mediocre logic.
—Comte de Lautreamont
Topics: Humanity

Taste is the fundamental quality which sums up all the other qualities. It is the nec plus ultra of the intelligence. Through this alone is genius the supreme health and balance of all the faculties.
—Comte de Lautreamont
Topics: Taste, Style

Despair, feeding, as it always does, on phantasmagoria, is imperturbably leading literature to the rejection, en masse, of all divine and social laws, towards practical and theoretical evil.
—Comte de Lautreamont
Topics: Literature, Books

Throughout the centuries, man has considered himself beautiful. I rather suppose that man only believes in his own beauty out of pride; that he is not really beautiful and he suspects this himself; for why does he look on the face of his fellow-man with such scorn?
—Comte de Lautreamont
Topics: Vanity

Sleep is a reward for some, a punishment for others. For all, it is a sanction.
—Comte de Lautreamont
Topics: Sleep

When I write down my thoughts, they do not escape me. This action makes me remember my strength which I forget at all times. I educate myself proportionately to my captured thought. I aim only to distinguish the contradiction between my mind and nothingness.
—Comte de Lautreamont
Topics: Thoughts, Thinking, Thought

Melancholy and sadness are the start of doubt… doubt is the beginning of despair; despair is the cruel beginning of the differing degrees of wickedness.
—Comte de Lautreamont
Topics: Sadness, Sorrow

Throughout my life, I have seen narrow-shouldered men, without a single exception, committing innumerable stupid acts, brutalizing their fellows and perverting souls by all means. They call the motive for their actions fame.
—Comte de Lautreamont
Topics: Fame

It is a power stronger than will. Could a stone escape from the laws of gravity? Impossible. Impossible, for evil to form an alliance with good.
—Comte de Lautreamont
Topics: Evil

Inspirational Quotes by Comte de Lautreamont (French Prose Poet)

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