The individual mirrors in his individuation the preordained social laws of exploitation, however mediated. Theodor Adorno More Quotes by Theodor Adorno More Quotes From Theodor Adorno The basest person is capable of perceiving the weaknesses of the greatest, the most stupid, the errors in the thought of the most intelligent. Theodor Adorno errorsintelligentstupid True thoughts are those alone which do not understand themselves. Theodor Adorno The almost insoluble task is to let neither the power of others, nor our own powerlessness, stupefy us. Theodor Adorno powerlessnesstasks Indeed, happiness is nothing other than being encompassed, an after-image of the original shelter within the mother. But for this reason no one who is happy can know that he is so. To see happiness, he would have to pass out of it: to be as if already born. He who says he is happy lies, and in invoking happiness, sins against it. He alone keeps faith who says: I was happy. Theodor Adorno sheltermotherlying Technology is making gestures precise and brutal, and with them men. Theodor Adorno gesturestechnologymen In the end, glorification of splendid underdogs is nothing other than glorification of the splendid system that makes them so. Theodor Adorno underdogsplendidends The power of works of art still continues to be secretly nourished by imitation... kitsch Theodor Adorno kitschimitationart The bourgeois ... is tolerant. His love for people as they are stems from his hatred of what they might be. Theodor Adorno hatredmightpeople Every work of art is an uncommitted crime. Theodor Adorno crimeuncommittedart The good man is he who rules himself as he does his own property: his autonomous being is modelled on material power. Theodor Adorno good-mandoemen There's not much need for prophets who are in synch with their society. Theodor Adorno prophetneeds The Enlightenment has always aimed at liberating men from fear and establishing their sovereignty. Yet the fully enlightened earth radiates disaster triumphant. Theodor Adorno enlightenedearthmen Today self-consciousness no longer means anything but reflection on the ego as embarrassment, as realization of impotence: knowing that one is nothing. Theodor Adorno reflectionselfmean All satire is blind to the forces liberated by decay. Which is why total decay has absorbed the forces of satire. Theodor Adorno satiredecayblind Intolerance of ambiguity is the mark of an authoritarian personality. Theodor Adorno tolerancemarkpersonality Wrong life cannot be lived rightly. Theodor Adorno wrong-lifelife-changinglife The positive element of kitsch lies in the fact that it sets free for a moment the glimmering realization that you have wasted your life. Theodor Adorno elementsrealizationlying Everything about art has become problematic; its inner life, its relation to society, even its right to exist. Theodor Adorno inner-liferelationart Fear and destructiveness are the major emotional sources of fascism, eros belongs mainly to democracy. Theodor Adorno sourcedemocracyemotional Writing poetry after Auschwitz is barbaric. Theodor Adorno auschwitzpoetrywriting
