--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Modernity signifies the transitory, the…" description: "\"Modernity signifies the transitory, the fugitive, the contingent, the half of art of which the other half is the eternal and the immutable.\" — Charles ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/383/charles-baudelaire-473_art_modernity-signifies-the-transitory-the-f_167844.jpg" --- # Modernity signifies the transitory, the fugitive, the… ![“Modernity signifies the transitory, the fugitive, the contingent, the half of art of which the other half is the eternal and the immutable.” quote by Charles Baudelaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/383/charles-baudelaire-473_art_modernity-signifies-the-transitory-the-f_167844.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/383/charles-baudelaire-473_art_modernity-signifies-the-transitory-the-f_167844.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/383/charles-baudelaire-473_art_modernity-signifies-the-transitory-the-f_167844.jpg) > “Modernity signifies the transitory, the fugitive, the contingent, the half of art of which the other half is the eternal and the immutable.” [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. Modernity highlights that art is split between fleeting, changeable aspects and timeless, unchanging ones. **In simple terms:** Art has both temporary and permanent parts. Key Takeaway Balance change with permanence in creative work. Themes art modernity temporality eternity duality Mood reflective analytical Type philosophical critical When to use this quote - contemporary art criticism - gallery curation - creative planning - cultural analysis Key Concepts transience immutability philosophy Questions to Reflect On - How do you honor both change and constancy in your work? - What aspects of art feel most fleeting to you? A Different Perspective May overemphasizing permanence stifle innovation. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Art](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/art/) [Eternal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/eternal/) [Modernity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/modernity/) ## Related quotes > [Modernity is the transitory, the fugitive, the contingent, which make up one half of art, the other being the eternal and the immutable. This…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-baudelaire/modernity-is-the-transitory-the-fugitive-the-contingent-which-make-up/) [Charles Baudelaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-baudelaire/) > [Half of art is accident, but there is no accident without free experiment.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-steadman/half-of-art-is-accident-but-there-is-no-accident-without-free/) [Ralph Steadman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-steadman/) > [A good half of the art of living is resilience.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alain-de-botton/a-good-half-of-the-art-of-living-is-resilience/) [Alain de Botton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alain-de-botton/) > [Literature flourishes best when it is half a trade and half an art.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-ralph-inge/literature-flourishes-best-when-it-is-half-a-trade-and-half-an-art/) [William Ralph Inge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-ralph-inge/) > [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/) > [Above the titles of wife and mother, which, although dear, are transitory and accidental, there is the title human being, which precedes and out-ranks…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-livermore/above-the-titles-of-wife-and-mother-which-although-dear-are/) Mary Livermore > [The images evoked by words being independent of their sense, they vary from age to age and from people to people, the formulas remaining…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gustave-le-bon/the-images-evoked-by-words-being-independent-of-their-sense-they-vary/) [Gustave Le Bon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gustave-le-bon/) > [I cannot conceive of a personal God who would directly influence the actions of individuals, or would directly sit in judgment on creatures of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-einstein/i-cannot-conceive-of-a-personal-god-who-would-directly-influence-the/) [Albert Einstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-einstein/) > [ “They \[progressives\] are men and women who tend to believe that the human being is perfectible and social progress predictable, and that the instrument… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/they-progressives-are-men-and-women-who-tend-to-believe-that-the/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [If you make provision for the desires of the flesh and bear a grudge against your neighbor on account of something transitory, you worship…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maximus-the-confessor/if-you-make-provision-for-the-desires-of-the-flesh-and-bear-a-grudge/) [Maximus the Confessor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maximus-the-confessor/) > [Every design is a rigorous attempt to capture a concrete moment of a transitory image in all its nuances. The extent to which this…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alvaro-siza-vieira/every-design-is-a-rigorous-attempt-to-capture-a-concrete-moment-of-a/) Alvaro Siza Vieira > [The glory of the world is transitory, and we should not measure our lives by it, but by the choice we make to follow…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paulo-coelho/the-glory-of-the-world-is-transitory-and-we-should-not-measure-our/) [Paulo Coelho](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paulo-coelho/) > [Human beings affix themselves to things that are of little or no importance. They affix themselves to the transitory, to things that are impermanent,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/human-beings-affix-themselves-to-things-that-are-of-little-or-no/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [You are quite, quite wrong if you think that ... I find your happiness painful. What matters is that happiness - the golden day…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/winifred-holtby/you-are-quite-quite-wrong-if-you-think-that-i-find-your-happiness/) [Winifred Holtby](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/winifred-holtby/) ## 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. One wants to suffer in front of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-baudelaire/this-life-is-a-hospital-in-which-each-patient-is-possessed-by-the/) [Charles Baudelaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-baudelaire/) > [There is no such thing as a long piece of work, except one that you dare not start.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-baudelaire/there-is-no-such-thing-as-a-long-piece-of-work-except-one-that-you/) [Charles Baudelaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-baudelaire/) > [Our religion is itself profoundly sad - a religion of universal anguish, and one which, because of its very catholicity, grants full liberty to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-baudelaire/our-religion-is-itself-profoundly-sad-a-religion-of-universal-anguish/) [Charles Baudelaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-baudelaire/) > [But the true voyagers are only those who leave Just to be leaving; hearts light, like balloons, They never turn aside from their fatality…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-baudelaire/but-the-true-voyagers-are-only-those-who-leave-just-to-be-leaving/) [Charles Baudelaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-baudelaire/) > [Amer savoir, celui qu'on tire du voyage! 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. Accordingly...they became abominably wicked, and they were justly exterminated by the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-franklin/before-noah-men-having-only-water-to-drink-could-not-find-the-truth/) [Benjamin Franklin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-franklin/) > [“Hear the sum of the whole matter in the compass of one brief word — every art possessed by man comes from Prometheus.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aeschylus/hear-the-sum-of-the-whole-matter-in-the-compass-of-one-brief-word/) [Aeschylus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aeschylus/) > [I think most artists feel like they're outside society - no matter how many accolades they receive, or how much money is in your…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aaron-rose/i-think-most-artists-feel-like-they-re-outside-society-no-matter-how/) [Aaron Rose](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aaron-rose/) > [The capacity to be puzzled is the premise of all creation, be it in art or in science.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erich-fromm/the-capacity-to-be-puzzled-is-the-premise-of-all-creation-be-it-in/) [Erich Fromm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erich-fromm/) > [That's the great secret of creativity. 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 > [The house has to serve comfort. The work of art is revolutionary; the house is conservative.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adolf-loos/the-house-has-to-serve-comfort-the-work-of-art-is-revolutionary-the/) [Adolf Loos](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adolf-loos/) > [During human progress, every science is evolved out of its corresponding art.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herbert-spencer/during-human-progress-every-science-is-evolved-out-of-its/) [Herbert Spencer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herbert-spencer/) > [In literature and art memory is a synonym for invention. It is the life-blood of imagination, which faints and dies when the veins are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-aris-willmott/in-literature-and-art-memory-is-a-synonym-for-invention-it-is-the/) [Robert Aris Willmott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-aris-willmott/) > [I think a business guy is different from an artist. They walk different paths. Artists create the best outputs when they're having fun. And…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/g-dragon/i-think-a-business-guy-is-different-from-an-artist-they-walk/) [G-Dragon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/g-dragon/) > [“The only thing--I tell you this straight from the heart--that disgusts me in Salzburg is that one can't have any proper social intercourse with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wolfgang-amadeus-mozart/the-only-thing-i-tell-you-this-straight-from-the-heart-that-disgusts/) [Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wolfgang-amadeus-mozart/) > [The sublime in art is the attempt to express the infinite without finding in the realm of phenomena any object which proves itself fitting…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/georg-wilhelm-friedrich-hegel/the-sublime-in-art-is-the-attempt-to-express-the-infinite-without/) [Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/georg-wilhelm-friedrich-hegel/) > [Art isn't done to decorate apartments, but to wage war against the enemy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pablo-picasso/art-isn-t-done-to-decorate-apartments-but-to-wage-war-against-the/) [Pablo Picasso](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pablo-picasso/) [Browse all 48,643 Art quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/art/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Modernity signifies the transitory, the fugitive, the contingent, the half of art of which the other half is the eternal and the immutable.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Charles Baudelaire" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-baudelaire/modernity-signifies-the-transitory-the-fugitive-the-contingent-the/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Art" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-baudelaire/modernity-signifies-the-transitory-the-fugitive-the-contingent-the/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/383/charles-baudelaire-473_art_modernity-signifies-the-transitory-the-f_167844.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/383/charles-baudelaire-473_art_modernity-signifies-the-transitory-the-f_167844.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/383/charles-baudelaire-473_art_modernity-signifies-the-transitory-the-f_167844.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Modernity signifies the transitory, the fugitive, the contingent, the half of art of which the other half is…” — Charles Baudelaire", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Charles Baudelaire", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-baudelaire/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Modernity signifies the transitory, the fugitive,...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-baudelaire/modernity-signifies-the-transitory-the-fugitive-the-contingent-the/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-baudelaire/modernity-signifies-the-transitory-the-fugitive-the-contingent-the/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```