What is decay?

Famous quotes containing the word decay:

“One of the most striking signs of the decay of art is the intermixing of different genres.”
—Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe (1749–1832)

“But I must needs take my petulance, contrasting it with my accustomed morning hopefulness, as a sign of the ageing of appetite, of a decay in the very capacity of enjoyment. We need some imaginative stimulus, some not impossible ideal which may shape vague hope, and transform it into effective desire, to carry us year after year, without disgust, through the routine- work which is so large a part of life.”
—Walter Pater (1839–1894)

“She is a prude in her own defence ... under the specious mask of propriety, she conceals the decay of her worn-out charms.”
—Molière [Jean Baptiste Poquelin] (1622–1673)