Who said “Beauty is composed of an eternal, invariable element whose quantity is extremely…”?

Verified

Jean-Luc Godard. A published source records them saying or writing it.

SourceSource:"Defence and Illustration of Classical Construction," Cahiers du Cinéma (Paris, 15 September 1952)

Evidence: Wikiquote · How we check

Source checked · Something wrong? Report a correction

Authors A–Z
“Beauty is composed of an eternal, invariable element whose quantity is extremely difficult to determine, and a relative element which might be, either by turns or all at once, period, fashion, moral, passion.”
— Jean-Luc Godard
VerifiedSource:"Defence and Illustration of Classical Construction," Cahiers du Cinéma (Paris, 15 September 1952) · evidenceBeauty
Report

Cite this quote

For academic work, cite the original where you can: Source:"Defence and Illustration of Classical Construction," Cahiers du Cinéma (Paris, 15 September 1952).

APA

Godard, J. (n.d.). Beauty is composed of an eternal, invariable element whose quantity is extremely difficult to determine, and a relative element which might be, either by turns or all at once, period, fashion, moral, passion. [Quotation]. Famous Quotations Network. Retrieved October 24, 2026, from https://www.famous-quotations.com/quotes/7737-beauty-is-composed-of-an-eternal-invariable-element/

MLA

Godard, Jean-Luc. “Beauty is composed of an eternal, invariable element whose quantity is extremely difficult to determine, and a relative element which might be, either by turns or all at once, period, fashion, moral, passion.” Famous Quotations Network, https://www.famous-quotations.com/quotes/7737-beauty-is-composed-of-an-eternal-invariable-element/. Accessed 24 Oct. 2026.

Chicago

Godard, Jean-Luc. “Beauty is composed of an eternal, invariable element whose quantity is extremely difficult to determine, and a relative element which might be, either by turns or all at once, period, fashion, moral, passion.” Famous Quotations Network. Accessed October 24, 2026. https://www.famous-quotations.com/quotes/7737-beauty-is-composed-of-an-eternal-invariable-element/.

Related quotes

“Beauty is truth, truth beauty -- that is all ye know on earth, and all ye need to know.”
— John Keats
VerifiedOde on a Grecian Urn, Stanza 5. The final lines of this poem have been rendered in various ways in different editions, some placing the entire last two lines within quotation marks, others only the statement "Beauty is truth, truth beauty," and others without any quotation marks. · evidenceDetails & citeBeauty
Report

More quotes by Jean-Luc Godard

“The truth is that there is no terror untempered by some great moral idea.”
VerifiedSource: "Strangers on a Train," Cahiers du Cinéma (Paris, 10 March 1952). · evidenceDetails & citeFear
Report
“To me style is just the outside of content, and content the inside of style, like the outside and the inside of the human body -- both go together, they can't be separated.”
Style
Report
“The cinema is not an art which films life: the cinema is something between art and life. Unlike painting and literature, the cinema both gives to life and takes from it, and I try to render this concept in my films. Literature and painting both exist as art from the very start; the cinema doesn't.”
Cinema
Report
All 6 Jean-Luc Godard quotes →