--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Modernity is the transitory, the…" description: "\"Modernity is the transitory, the fugitive, the contingent, which make up one half of art, the other being the eternal and the immutable. This transitor..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3ef/charles-baudelaire-473_art_modernity-is-the-transitory-the-fugitive_3221776.jpg" --- # Modernity is the transitory, the fugitive, the contingent… ![“Modernity is the transitory, the fugitive, the contingent, which make up one half of art, the other being the eternal and the immutable. This transitory fugitive element, which is constantly changing, must not be despised or neglected.” quote by Charles Baudelaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3ef/charles-baudelaire-473_art_modernity-is-the-transitory-the-fugitive_3221776.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3ef/charles-baudelaire-473_art_modernity-is-the-transitory-the-fugitive_3221776.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3ef/charles-baudelaire-473_art_modernity-is-the-transitory-the-fugitive_3221776.jpg) > “Modernity is the transitory, the fugitive, the contingent, which make up one half of art, the other being the eternal and the immutable. This transitory fugitive element, which is constantly changing, must not be despised or neglected.” [Charles Baudelaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-baudelaire/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Art balances fleeting, changeable aspects with timeless, unchanging ones; both are essential to its full expression. **In simple terms:** Art mixes change and permanence. Key Takeaway Embrace both novelty and tradition in creative work. Themes art philosophy change eternity Mood reflective thoughtful Type analytical inspirational When to use this quote - creative projects - design work - cultural criticism - personal expression Key Concepts modernism transience immutability Questions to Reflect On - How do you balance innovation with tradition? - What timeless elements can you incorporate into modern work? A Different Perspective Neglecting either side can lead to shallow or stagnant art. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Art](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/art/) [Despised](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/despised/) [Eternal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/eternal/) [Fugitive](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fugitive/) [Half](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/half/) [Immutable Transitory](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/immutable-transitory-6060115/) [Modernity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/modernity/) [Modernity Transitory](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/modernity-transitory-6060113/) [Neglected](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/neglected/) [One half](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/one-half/) [Transitory](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/transitory/) [Transitory Fugitive](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/transitory-fugitive-6060114/) ## Related quotes > [Youth -- nothing else worth having in the world...and I had youth, the transitory, the fugitive, now, completely and abundantly. Yet what was I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-halliburton/youth-nothing-else-worth-having-in-the-world-and-i-had-youth-the/) [Richard Halliburton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-halliburton/) > [All forms of beauty, like all possible phenomena, contain an element of the eternal and an element of the transitory - of the absolute…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-baudelaire/all-forms-of-beauty-like-all-possible-phenomena-contain-an-element-of/) [Charles Baudelaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-baudelaire/) > [Modernity is the transient, the fleeting, the contingent; it is one half of art, the other being the eternal and the immovable.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-baudelaire/modernity-is-the-transient-the-fleeting-the-contingent-it-is-one-half/) [Charles Baudelaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-baudelaire/) > [Modernity signifies the transitory, the fugitive, the contingent, the half of art of which the other half is the eternal and the immutable.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-baudelaire/modernity-signifies-the-transitory-the-fugitive-the-contingent-the/) [Charles Baudelaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-baudelaire/) > [Perfect Scepticismeis a disease incurable, and a thing rather to be pitied or laughed at, then seriously opposed. For when aman is so fugitive…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-more/perfect-scepticismeis-a-disease-incurable-and-a-thing-rather-to-be/) [Henry More](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-more/) > [There is no reality on this earth except religion and the power of love; all the rest is even more fugitive than life itself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/madame-de-stael/there-is-no-reality-on-this-earth-except-religion-and-the-power-of/) [Madame de Stael](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/madame-de-stael/) > [You know, back in the 1950s and '60s, when J. 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It hides the anguish in the human…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stacy-aumonier/memory-with-its-fugitive-adjustments-is-the-merciful-veil-to-the-grim/) [Stacy Aumonier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stacy-aumonier/) > [Passing beauties are only the fugitive reflections of the eternal. All beauty alters and all life melts away; in short, everything passes with marvelous…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eliphas-levi/passing-beauties-are-only-the-fugitive-reflections-of-the-eternal-all/) [Eliphas Levi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eliphas-levi/) > [Before the start of the 2000 season, 'C.S.I.' wasn't supposed to be the hit. We all thought it would be 'The Fugitive.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leslie-moonves/before-the-start-of-the-2000-season-c-s-i-wasn-t-supposed-to-be-the/) [Leslie Moonves](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leslie-moonves/) > [Everyone seems to assume that the unscrupulous parts of journalism will be the frivolous or jocular parts. This is against all ethical experience. Jokes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gilbert-k-chesterton/everyone-seems-to-assume-that-the-unscrupulous-parts-of-journalism/) [Gilbert K. Chesterton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gilbert-k-chesterton/) > [“The family landed in the Western Hemisphere in the person of Roger Blake Wolfe, who arrived with a price on his head.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-carlos-blake/the-family-landed-in-the-western-hemisphere-in-the-person-of-roger/) [James Carlos Blake](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-carlos-blake/) ## More by Charles Baudelaire > [Who would dare assign to art the sterile function of imitating nature?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-baudelaire/who-would-dare-assign-to-art-the-sterile-function-of-imitating-nature/) [Charles Baudelaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-baudelaire/) > [“The greatest trick the Devil ever pulled was convincing the world he didn’t exist”—Charles Baudelaire “The second greatest trick the Devil ever pulled was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-baudelaire/the-greatest-trick-the-devil-ever-pulled-was-convincing-the-world-he/) [Charles Baudelaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-baudelaire/) > [“This life is a hospital in which each patient is possessed by the desire to change beds. 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Bitter is the knowledge gained in travelling.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-baudelaire/amer-savoir-celui-qu-on-tire-du-voyage-bitter-is-the-knowledge-gained/) [Charles Baudelaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-baudelaire/) > [“Car je cherche le vide, el le noir, el le nu!”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-baudelaire/car-je-cherche-le-vide-el-le-noir-el-le-nu/) [Charles Baudelaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-baudelaire/) > [“I can barely conceive a type of beauty in which there is no melancholy.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-baudelaire/i-can-barely-conceive-a-type-of-beauty-in-which-there-is-no-melancholy/) [Charles Baudelaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-baudelaire/) > [The vices of man, as full of horror as one might suppose them to be, contain the proof (if in nothing else but their…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-baudelaire/the-vices-of-man-as-full-of-horror-as-one-might-suppose-them-to-be/) [Charles Baudelaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-baudelaire/) > [Multitude, solitude: equal and interchangeable terms for the active and prolific poet.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-baudelaire/multitude-solitude-equal-and-interchangeable-terms-for-the-active-and/) [Charles Baudelaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-baudelaire/) > [Any healthy man can go without food for two days - but not without poetry.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-baudelaire/any-healthy-man-can-go-without-food-for-two-days-but-not-without/) [Charles Baudelaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-baudelaire/) > [Drink wine, drink poetry, drink virtue.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-baudelaire/drink-wine-drink-poetry-drink-virtue/) [Charles Baudelaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-baudelaire/) > [Man loves man so much that when he flees the city, it is still to seek the crowd, that is, to rebuild the city…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-baudelaire/man-loves-man-so-much-that-when-he-flees-the-city-it-is-still-to-seek/) [Charles Baudelaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-baudelaire/) > [“—But why is she weeping? She, the perfect beauty, Who could put at her feet the conquered human race, What secret malady gnaws at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-baudelaire/but-why-is-she-weeping-she-the-perfect-beauty-who-could-put-at-her/) [Charles Baudelaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-baudelaire/) [Explore all 454 Charles Baudelaire quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-baudelaire/) ## More Art quotes > [True works of art contain their own theory and give us the measurement according to which we should judge them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/true-works-of-art-contain-their-own-theory-and-give-us-the/) [Johann Wolfgang von Goethe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/) > [Before Noah, men having only water to drink, could not find the truth. 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You treat ideas like cats: you make them follow you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ray-bradbury/that-s-the-great-secret-of-creativity-you-treat-ideas-like-cats-you/) [Ray Bradbury](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ray-bradbury/) > [“So, really," continued Jacob as if this were perfectly normal to expound on art in these circumstances, "when you think about it, the artists…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/justina-chen-headley/so-really-continued-jacob-as-if-this-were-perfectly-normal-to-expound/) [Justina Chen Headley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/justina-chen-headley/) > [“There are two options in art; either to adopt philosophical life by dissecting art, or to write your own philosophical life and claim it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/taf-teh/there-are-two-options-in-art-either-to-adopt-philosophical-life-by/) [Taf Teh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/taf-teh/) > [The house has to serve comfort. 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