Famous quotes containing the words artists, books, avant-garde and/or production:
“The past is interesting not only for the beauty which the artists for whom it was the present were able to extract from it, but also as past, for its historical value. The same goes for the present. The pleasure which we derive from the representation of the present is due not only to the beauty in which it may be clothed, but also from its essential quality of being present.”
—Charles Baudelaire (1821–1867)
“Good books do not make people wiser or happier—only more conscious.”
—Mason Cooley (b. 1927)
“Life is difficult for those who have the daring to first set out on an unknown road. The avant-garde always has a bad time of it.”
—Anton Pavlovich Chekhov (1860–1904)
“Perestroika basically is creating material incentives for the individual. Some of the comrades deny that, but I can’t see it any other way. In that sense human nature kinda goes backwards. It’s a step backwards. You have to realize the people weren’t quite ready for a socialist production system.”
—Gus Hall (b. 1910)