With heart at rest I climbed the citadel's Steep height, and saw the city as from a tower, Hospital, brothel, prison, and such hells, Where evil comes up softly like a flower. Thou knowest, O Satan, patron of my pain, Not for vain tears I went up at that hour; But like an old sad faithful lecher, fain To drink delight of that enormous trull Whose hellish beauty makes me young again. Whether thou sleep, with heavy vapors full, Sodden with day, or, new appareled, stand In gold-laced veils of evening beautiful, I love thee, infamous city! Harlots and Hunted have pleasures of their own to give, The vulgar herd can never understand. Charles Baudelaire
About This Quote

The city in which I live is not the most beautiful one in the world. It is beautiful because of its people, who are very nice and know how to make me feel better. This city is like a tower, because when I look at it I feel like I am looking down at it. The city has many meanings.

However, in this poem, the most important one is that this city knows how to make people feel better. If there was no pleasure in it, why would anyone go to such an ugly place?

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  1. The beautiful is always bizarre.
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  3. Life has but one true charm: the charm of the game. But what if we’re indifferent to whether we win or lose?
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  5. And, drunk with my own madness, I shouted at him furiously, "Make life beautiful! Make life beautiful!
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