"Barbarism is needed every four or five hundred years to bring the world back to life. Otherwise it would die of civilization."
— Edmond de Goncourt

January 1, 1970

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Literary criticsHistorians from FranceNovelists from FranceJournalists from FranceArt critics
Original Language: English

Sources

Edmond and Jules de Goncourt, Journal des Goncourt, 1855, translated from the French — Alternative source: Joris-Karl Huysmans. Against Nature. Penguin books.