“May the day come when I can escape slavery and have enough income to do only as much, and only what, I please.”

Original: Ah! qu’il arrive, le jour où je pourrai sortir de l’esclavage et avoir des rentes assez pour ne faire qu’autant et que ce qu’il me plaira! — Financial independence represents freedom from exhausting labour and the power to choose how to live. · Letter from Aden, 29 May 1884 (French)

• Freedom
• Money
• Work

“The discoveries of the unknown demand new forms.”

Original: Les découvertes de l’inconnu réclament des formes nouvelles. — The principle connects artistic innovation directly with the discovery of previously unexpressed experience. · Letter to Paul Demeny, 15 May 1871 (French)

• Discovery
• Form
• Innovation

“The poet is responsible for humanity, even for the animals.”

Original: Le Poète est chargé de l’humanité, des animaux même. — Rimbaud assigns the poet a responsibility extending beyond individual expression to the wider living world. · Letter to Paul Demeny, 15 May 1871 (French)

• Animals
• Humanity
• Poetry