Ruins - Food for Thought

Quote by French philosopher Diderot to French artist Hubert Robert (also known as 'Robert des Ruines' due to his passion for painting overgrown ruins):

"Do you realise that ruins have a poetry of their own?
You don't know why ruins give such pleasure? I will tell you.
Everything dissolves, everything perishes, everything passes, only time goes on.
What is my existence compared to crumbling stone?"

Imaginary View of the Grand Gallery of the Louvre in Ruins, 1796, Hubert Robert, Musee de Louvre, Paris.