"One day perhaps someone will put on a play in which we shall see a resurrection of those costumes in which our fathers found themselves every bit as fascinating as we do ourselves in our poor garments (which also have a grace of their own, it must be admitted, but rather of a moral and spiritual type). And then, if they are worn and given life by intelligent actors and actresses, we shall be astonished at ever having been able to mock them so stupidly.
Without losing anything of its ghostly attraction, the past will recover the light and movement of life and will become present."
Charles Baudelaire,
The Painter of Modern Life
I love his ideas so much. Everything I read by him is touched by something timeless and magical and stirs something I have been thinking or wish to be thinking. His writings answer questions I hadn't realized I asked, with the added effect of setting off a million little thoughts to glitter like fireworks in my head and in my eyes, but unlike fireworks, these linger.
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