“Wherever rights are denied the poor, the prophetic anger is turned not merely against the incumbent rulers but equally against the means society employs to gloss over its own mendacity. And foremost among these means is art. Catering to luxury and emphasizing only the beautiful, art denies the fact that wretchedness and destitution have a tight grip on the poor. This is the reason why the prophetic zeal turned against art, and not merely against the luxury of women and the pretentiousness of the rich.”

— Hermann Cohen

Source: Reason and Hope: Selections from the Jewish Writings of Hermann Cohen (1971), p. 118

Adopted from Wikiquote. Last update Sept. 14, 2021. History

Help us to complete the source, original and additional information

Do you have more details about the quote "Wherever rights are denied the poor, the prophetic anger is turned not merely against the incumbent rulers but equally …" by Hermann Cohen?

Hermann Cohen 10

German philosopher 1842–1918

Related quotes

“The idea that art copies nature is a fatal misconception. Art has always operated against nature and for reason.”

Gerhard Richter (1932) German visual artist, born 1932

undated quotes, The Daily Practice of Painting, Writings (1962-1993)

“The greatest foe to art is luxury, art cannot live in its atmosphere.”

William Morris (1834–1896) author, designer, and craftsman

The Beauty of Life (1880).

“Some teachers of mankind — as Plato… the first Christians, the orthodox Muslims, and the Buddhists — have gone so far as to repudiate art. …[They consider it] so highly dangerous in its power to infect people against their wills, that mankind will lose far less by banishing all art than by tolerating each and every art. …such people were wrong in repudiating all art, for they denied that which cannot be denied — one of the indispensable means of communication, without which mankind could not exist. …Now there is only fear, lest we should be deprived of any pleasures art can afford, so any type of art is patronized. And I think the last error is much grosser than the first and that its consequences are far more harmful.”

Leo Tolstoy (1828–1910) Russian writer

What is Art? (1897)

“In 1968 the end of art was announced, but this was for political reasons and for the wrong reasons. At that time it was believed that as long as there were only formal relationships, one did not have to deal with a luxury such as art.”

Anselm Kiefer (1945) German painter and sculptor

(1986) n.p.
Structures are no longer valid', in "Ein Gespräch..."

“Art is a revolt against fate.”

André Malraux (1901–1976) French novelist, art theorist and politician

Part IV, Chapter VII
Les voix du silence [Voices of Silence] (1951)

“And so the arbitrary union of three incommensurate, mutually disconnected concepts became the basis of a bewildering theory… [by which] one of the lowest renderings of art, art for mere pleasure — against which all of the master teachers warned — was idealized as the ultimate in art.”

Leo Tolstoy (1828–1910) Russian writer

What is Art? (1897)

“One cannot condemn tendencies in art; one can only condemn works of art. To be categorically against a current art tendency or style means, in effect, to pronounce on works of art not yet created and not yet seen. It means inquiring into the motives of artists instead of into results. Yet we all know — or are supposed to know — that results are all that count in art.”

Clement Greenberg (1909–1994) American writer and artist

"Wyndham Lewis Against Abstract Art" (1957), p. 164
1960s, Art and Culture: Critical Essays, (1961)

“The function of art is to struggle against obligation.”

Amedeo Modigliani (1884–1920) Italian painter and sculptor

Attributed without citation at History of Painters http://www.historyofpainters.com/modigliani.htm

“Killing, imprisoning or denying the rights of a human being is not injustice against one person; it enchains and kills a whole society.”

Narges Mohammadi (1972) Iranian human rights activist

Similar to Quran 5:32, as quoted in 1,000 Days in Prison: Narges Mohammadi Condemns Iranian Judiciary’s “Subservience” to Security Agencies https://www.iranhumanrights.org/2018/02/1000-days-in-prison-narges-mohammadi-condemns-iranian-judiciarys-subservience-to-security-agencies/ (February 21, 2018), Center for Human Rights in Iran.

“What rights have women? … [they are] punished for breaking laws which they have no voice in making. All avenues to enterprise and honors are closed against them. If poor, they must drudge for a mere pittance—if of the wealthy classes, they must be dressed dolls of fashion—parlor puppets…”

Ernestine Rose (1810–1892) American feminist activist

At the Social Reform Convention, Boston (1844), quoted in Kolmerten, Carol A., The American Life of Ernestine L. Rose, Syracuse, NY: Syracuse University Press, 1999, p. 49.

Help us to complete the source, original and additional information

Hermann Cohen 10

Related quotes

Related topics