There are in the world--even in the world of artists--those who go to the Louvre and hurry past a wall full of fascinating paintings without glancing at them, planting themselves in front of a Titien or a Raphael, one of those artists popularized by the scribblings of critics; and then leave satisfied, saying to themselves, "I know my museum." There also exist people who, having read Bossuet and Racine, believe themselves to be in possession of the entire history of literature. But luckily every once in a while a righter of wrongs presents himself; a critic, an amateur, or simply a curious man who affirms that not everything is contained in a Raphael or in Racine, that the minor poets have something good, something solid and delicious; and, finally, that loving beauty in general, which is expressed by the classical poets and artists, does not exonerate you from neglecting beauty in particular, the beauty of circumstance and the betrayal of norms. - Baudelaire, Le peintre de la vie moderne
