“I am ready for perfection, yet I am consumed by pride.”

Original: Je suis prêt pour la perfection... Orgueil. — Rimbaud immediately undercuts his claim to perfection by recognising the pride behind it. · A Season in Hell, Night in Hell, 1873 (French)

• Perfection
• Pride
• Self Knowledge

“As soon as he knows it, he must cultivate it.”

Original: Sitôt qu’il la connaît, il la cultive! — Self-knowledge becomes valuable only when it is actively developed through practice. · Letter to Paul Demeny, 15 May 1871 (French)

• Growth
• Practice
• Self Knowledge

“He searches his soul, inspects it, tests it, learns it.”

Original: Il cherche son âme, il l’inspecte, il la tente, l’apprend. — The poet is presented as an explorer whose territory is consciousness itself. · Letter to Paul Demeny, 15 May 1871 (French)

• Discovery
• Poetry
• Self Knowledge

“The first study of the man who wants to be a poet is his own complete knowledge of himself.”

Original: La première étude de l’homme qui veut être poète est sa propre connaissance, entière. — Rimbaud links poetic ambition with an uncompromising investigation of the self. · Letter to Paul Demeny, 15 May 1871 (French)

• Knowledge
• Poetry
• Self Knowledge