Memory is not an instrument for exploring the past but its theatre. It is the medium of past experience, as the ground is the medium in which dead cities lie interred.

Quote by Walter Benjamin

Topics: Memory Quotes

Opinions are a private matter. The public has an interest only in judgments.

Opinions are a private matter. The public has an interest only in judgments.

All disgust is originally disgust at touching.

All disgust is originally disgust at touching.

The only way of knowing a person is to love them without hope.

The only way of knowing a person is to love them without hope.

The art of storytelling is reaching its end because the epic side of truth, wisdom,...

The art of storytelling is reaching its end because the epic side of truth, wisdom,...

Opinions are to the vast apparatus of social existence what oil is to machines: one...

Opinions are to the vast apparatus of social existence what oil is to machines: one...

Books and harlots have their quarrels in public.

Books and harlots have their quarrels in public.

Genuine polemics approach a book as lovingly as a cannibal spices a baby.

Genuine polemics approach a book as lovingly as a cannibal spices a baby.

Living substance conquers the frenzy of destruction only in the ecstasy of procreation.

Living substance conquers the frenzy of destruction only in the ecstasy of procreation.

The construction of life is at present in the power of facts far more than...

The construction of life is at present in the power of facts far more than...

Of all the ways of acquiring books, writing them oneself is regarded as the most...

Of all the ways of acquiring books, writing them oneself is regarded as the most...

It is precisely the purpose of the public opinion generated by the press to make...

It is precisely the purpose of the public opinion generated by the press to make...

He who observes etiquette but objects to lying is like someone who dresses fashionably but...

He who observes etiquette but objects to lying is like someone who dresses fashionably but...

Memory is not an instrument for exploring the past but its theatre. It is the...

Memory is not an instrument for exploring the past but its theatre. It is the...

The true picture of the past flits by. The past can be seized only as...

The true picture of the past flits by. The past can be seized only as...

Gifts must affect the receiver to the point of shock.

Gifts must affect the receiver to the point of shock.

Boredom is the dream bird that hatches the egg of experience. A rustling in the...

Boredom is the dream bird that hatches the egg of experience. A rustling in the...

It is only for the sake of those without hope that hope is given to...

It is only for the sake of those without hope that hope is given to...

The camera introduces us to unconscious optics as does psychoanalysis to unconscious impulses.

The camera introduces us to unconscious optics as does psychoanalysis to unconscious impulses.

All human knowledge takes the form of interpretation.

All human knowledge takes the form of interpretation.

Work on good prose has three steps: a musical stage when it is composed, an...

Work on good prose has three steps: a musical stage when it is composed, an...