Only he who can view his own past as an abortion sprung from compulsion and need can use it to full advantage in the present. Walter Benjamin More Quotes by Walter Benjamin More Quotes From Walter Benjamin The more circumspectly you delay writing down an idea, the more maturely developed it will be on surrendering itself. Walter Benjamin delaywritingideas Thinking involves not only the flow of thoughts, but their arrest as well. Walter Benjamin wellsflowthinking We collect books in the belief that we are preserving them when in fact it is the books that preserve their collector. Walter Benjamin beliefbookfacts To be happy is to be able to become aware of oneself without fright. Walter Benjamin fearbeing-happyhappiness These are days when no one should rely unduly on his competence. Strength lies in improvisation. All the decisive blows are struck left-handed. Walter Benjamin blowlifelying The experience of our generation: Walter Benjamin our-generationgenerationsnatural Even the most perfect reproduction of a work of art is lacking in one element: its presence in time and space, its unique existence at the place where it happens to be. Walter Benjamin spaceuniqueart The tradition of the oppressed teaches us that the "state of emergency" in which we live is not the exception but the rule. Walter Benjamin emergenciestraditionstates There is no document of civilization which is not at the same time a document of barbarism. Walter Benjamin barbarismdocumentscivilization Taking food alone tends to make one hard and coarse. Those accustomed to it must lead a Spartan life if they are not to go downhill. Hermits have observed, if for only this reason, a frugal diet. For it is only in company that eating is done justice; food must be divided and distributed if it is to be well received. Walter Benjamin donejusticefood Those who do not learn how to decipher photographs will be the illiterate of the future. Walter Benjamin illiteratelearningphotograph The work of memory collapses time. Walter Benjamin collapsememories Capitalism is a purely cultic religion, perhaps the most extreme that ever existed. Walter Benjamin extremescapitalism The only way of knowing a person is to love them without hope. Walter Benjamin loverelationshipfriendship The concept of progress must be grounded in the idea of catastrophe. That things are 'status quo' is the catastrophe Walter Benjamin status-quoprogressideas The camera introduces us to unconscious optics as does psychoanalysis to unconscious impulses. Walter Benjamin camerasphotographydoe All human knowledge takes the form of interpretation. Walter Benjamin interpretationintelligenceform Literature tells very little to those who understand it. Walter Benjamin literaturelittles Work on a good piece of writing proceeds on three levels: a musical one, where it is composed, an architectural one, where it is constructed, and finally a textile one, where it is woven. Walter Benjamin musicalwovenwriting The destructive character lives from the feeling, not that life is worth living, but that suicide is not worth the trouble. Walter Benjamin suicidefeelingscharacter
