---
title: "2 Decadence Quotes By Cyril Connolly"
description: "2 Decadence quotes by Cyril Connolly. Plus more from Cyril Connolly and more Decadence sayings from other authors."
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/26a/cyril-connolly-1829_civilization_the-civilization-of-one-epoch-becomes-th_230119.png"
---

> [The civilization of one epoch becomes the manure of the next.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cyril-connolly/the-civilization-of-one-epoch-becomes-the-manure-of-the-next/)

[Cyril Connolly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cyril-connolly/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/26a/cyril-connolly-1829_civilization_the-civilization-of-one-epoch-becomes-th_230119.png)

> [The goal of every culture is to decay through over-civilization; the factors of decadence, -- luxury, skepticism, weariness and superstition, -- are constant. The civilization of one epoch becomes the manure of the next.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cyril-connolly/the-goal-of-every-culture-is-to-decay-through-over-civilization-the/)

[Cyril Connolly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cyril-connolly/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/15e/cyril-connolly-1829_civilization_the-goal-of-every-culture-is-to-decay-th_2504806.jpg)

## Other authors on Decadence

- [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b005/author-basia-16607.jpg) Jean Lorrain 16 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/decadence/jean-lorrain/)
- [Bernard Capes 10 quotes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/decadence/bernard-capes/)
- [Jennifer Birkett 6 quotes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/decadence/jennifer-birkett/)
- [Asti Hustvedt 5 quotes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/decadence/asti-hustvedt/)

## More by Cyril Connolly

> [Literature is the art of writing something that will be read twice; journalism what will be read once.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cyril-connolly/literature-is-the-art-of-writing-something-that-will-be-read-twice/)

[Cyril Connolly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cyril-connolly/)

> [There is no fury like a woman searching for a new lover](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cyril-connolly/there-is-no-fury-like-a-woman-searching-for-a-new-lover/)

[Cyril Connolly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cyril-connolly/)

> [Beautiful women must think about their beauty as capitalists think about their investments or politicians about their majorities; it is all they have to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cyril-connolly/beautiful-women-must-think-about-their-beauty-as-capitalists-think/)

[Cyril Connolly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cyril-connolly/)

> [We cannot be happy until we can love ourselves without egotism and our friends without tyranny.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cyril-connolly/we-cannot-be-happy-until-we-can-love-ourselves-without-egotism-and/)

[Cyril Connolly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cyril-connolly/)

> [What grape to keep its place in the sun, taught our ancestors to make wine?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cyril-connolly/what-grape-to-keep-its-place-in-the-sun-taught-our-ancestors-to-make/)

[Cyril Connolly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cyril-connolly/)

> [“Literature is the art of writing something that will be read twice.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cyril-connolly/literature-is-the-art-of-writing-something-that-will-be-read-twice-2/)

[Cyril Connolly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cyril-connolly/)

> [“Our memories are card-indexes consulted and then put back in disorder by authorities whom we do not control.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cyril-connolly/our-memories-are-card-indexes-consulted-and-then-put-back-in-disorder/)

[Cyril Connolly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cyril-connolly/)

> [Were I to deduce any system from my feelings on leaving Eton, it might be called The Theory of Permanent Adolescence. It is the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cyril-connolly/were-i-to-deduce-any-system-from-my-feelings-on-leaving-eton-it-might/)

[Cyril Connolly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cyril-connolly/)

> [Failure on the other hand is infectious. The world is full of charming failures (for all charming people have something to conceal, usually their…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cyril-connolly/failure-on-the-other-hand-is-infectious-the-world-is-full-of-charming/)

[Cyril Connolly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cyril-connolly/)

> [The civilization of one epoch becomes the manure of the next.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cyril-connolly/the-civilization-of-one-epoch-becomes-the-manure-of-the-next/)

[Cyril Connolly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cyril-connolly/)

> [There is no more somber enemy of good art than the pram in the hall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cyril-connolly/there-is-no-more-somber-enemy-of-good-art-than-the-pram-in-the-hall/)

[Cyril Connolly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cyril-connolly/)

> [The true function of a writer is to produce a masterpiece and no other task is of any consequence.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cyril-connolly/the-true-function-of-a-writer-is-to-produce-a-masterpiece-and-no/)

[Cyril Connolly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cyril-connolly/)

> [“We pay for vice by the knowledge that we are wicked; we pay for pleasure when we find out too late that we are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cyril-connolly/we-pay-for-vice-by-the-knowledge-that-we-are-wicked-we-pay-for/)

[Cyril Connolly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cyril-connolly/)

> [The books I haven't written are better than the books other people have.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cyril-connolly/the-books-i-haven-t-written-are-better-than-the-books-other-people/)

[Cyril Connolly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cyril-connolly/)

> [If Montaigne is a man in the prime of life sitting in his study on a warm morning and putting down the sum of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cyril-connolly/if-montaigne-is-a-man-in-the-prime-of-life-sitting-in-his-study-on-a/)

[Cyril Connolly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cyril-connolly/)

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