The true picture of the past flits by. The past can be seized only as an image which flashes up at the instant when it can be recognized and is never seen again.

Quote by Walter Benjamin

Topics: Walter Benjamin Quotes

The adjustment of reality to the masses and of the masses to reality is a...

The adjustment of reality to the masses and of the masses to reality is a...

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.

All disgust is originally disgust at touching.

All disgust is originally disgust at touching.

The greater the decrease in the social significance of an art form, the sharper the...

The greater the decrease in the social significance of an art form, the sharper the...

Gifts must affect the receiver to the point of shock.

Gifts must affect the receiver to the point of shock.

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.

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...

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...

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.

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,...

All human knowledge takes the form of interpretation.

All human knowledge takes the form of interpretation.

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...

The idea that happiness could have a share in beauty would be too much of...

The idea that happiness could have a share in beauty would be too much of...

The destructive character lives from the feeling, not that life is worth living, but that...

The destructive character lives from the feeling, not that life is worth living, but that...

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...

Books and harlots have their quarrels in public.

Books and harlots have their quarrels in public.

Quotations in my work are like wayside robbers who leap out armed and relieve the...

Quotations in my work are like wayside robbers who leap out armed and relieve the...

Death is the sanction of everything the story-teller can tell. He has borrowed his authority...

Death is the sanction of everything the story-teller can tell. He has borrowed his authority...

The art of the critic in a nutshell: to coin slogans without betraying ideas. The...

The art of the critic in a nutshell: to coin slogans without betraying ideas. The...

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.