To know intense joy without a strong bodily frame, one must have an enthusiastic soul.
—George Eliot, 1872Quotes
Flesh was the reason why oil painting was invented.
—Willem de Kooning, 1949All God’s children are not beautiful. Most of God’s children are, in fact, barely presentable.
—Fran Lebowitz, 1978If I had the use of my body I would throw it out of the window.
—Samuel Beckett, 1951Very shy people don’t even want to take up the space that their body actually takes up.
—Andy Warhol, 1975Every tooth in a man’s head is more valuable than a diamond.
—Miguel de Cervantes, 1605To lose confidence in one’s body is to lose confidence in oneself.
—Simone de Beauvoir, 1949The human body is the best picture of the human soul.
—Ludwig Wittgenstein, c. 1947I know I have the body but of a weak and feeble woman, but I have the heart and stomach of a king.
—Elizabeth I, 1588Carnal embrace is the practice of throwing one’s arms around a side of beef.
—Tom Stoppard, 1993Nothing tastes as good as skinny feels.
—Kate Moss, 2009The features of our face are hardly more than gestures which force of habit has made permanent.
—Marcel Proust, 1919The world is made of the very stuff of the body.
—Maurice Merleau-Ponty, 1961