Paul Valery Quotes

“A work of art is never finished. It is merely abandoned.”
― E. M. Forster

“Work is never finished, only abandoned.”
― Paul Valéry

“There was nothing of interest in the anteroom but a book by Valery, which I began to browse through. Almost at once I came to the following passage, which was heavily underscored:

Carried away by his ambition to be unique, guided by his ardor for omnipotence, the man of great mind has gone beyond all creations, all works, even his own lofty designs; while at the same time he has abandoned all tenderness for himself and all preference for his own wishes. In an instant he immolates his individuality. . . To this point its pride has led the mind, and here pride is consumed. . . . [The mind] . . . perceives itself as destitute and bare, reduced to the supreme poverty of being a force without an object. . . . He [the genius] exists without instincts, almost without images; and he no longer has an aim. He resembles nothing.

Beside this passage, someone had scrawled in the margin: "The supreme genius has ceased at last to be human.”
― Thomas M. Disch, Camp Concentration