“A satirist is a man whose flesh creeps so at the ugly and the savage and the incongruous aspects of society that he has to express them as brutally and nakedly as possible to get relief.”

"Grosz Comes to America," Esquire, 1936

Adopted from Wikiquote. Last update June 3, 2021. History

Help us to complete the source, original and additional information

Do you have more details about the quote "A satirist is a man whose flesh creeps so at the ugly and the savage and the incongruous aspects of society that he has…" by John Dos Passos?
John Dos Passos photo
John Dos Passos 25
novelist, playwright, poet, journalist, painter 1896–1970

Related quotes

Novalis photo

“It is the maximum of the savage; and has, in these times, gained, precisely among the greatest weaklings, very many proselytes. By this ideal, man becomes a Beast-Spirit, a Mixture; whose brutal wit has, for weaklings, a brutal power of attraction.”

Novalis (1772–1801) German poet and writer

Novalis (1829)
Context: The ideal of Morality has no more dangerous rival than the ideal of highest Strength, of most powerful life; which also has been named (very falsely as it was there meant) the ideal of poetic greatness. It is the maximum of the savage; and has, in these times, gained, precisely among the greatest weaklings, very many proselytes. By this ideal, man becomes a Beast-Spirit, a Mixture; whose brutal wit has, for weaklings, a brutal power of attraction.

John Dos Passos photo
Mark Twain photo

“There are many humorous things in the world; among them, the white man's notion that he is less savage than the other savages.”

Mark Twain (1835–1910) American author and humorist

Source: Following the Equator: A Journey Around the World

Henry Miller photo

“Modern man has much to learn from the people he calls 'savages.'”

Henry Miller (1891–1980) American novelist

Reflections (1981)
Context: The pygmies are one of the most cultured peoples on the face of the earth. They live a wonderful life, a life of purity. Not only are they busy and productive, they're happy and healthy as well. If we puny Americans had to live under their conditions, we'd perish in a day. Modern man has much to learn from the people he calls 'savages.' Before we are down to the last blade of grass it would be wise to study the life of the Pygmies. The secret of our own survival rests with them, the people who know how to make the most out of very little and find complete happiness with the bare essentials.

Leo Tolstoy photo

“The universal hypocrisy has so entered into the flesh and blood of all classes of our modern society, it has reached such a pitch that nothing in that way can rouse indignation. Hypocrisy in the Greek means "acting," and acting—playing a part—is always possible.”

Variant Translation: Hypocrisy with good reason means the same as acting, and anybody can pretend — act a part.
Source: The Kingdom of God is Within You (1894), Chapter XII, Conclusion—Repent Ye, for the Kingdom of Heaven is at Hand

John Robert Seeley photo
Piet Mondrian photo
Thomas Paine photo
Cassandra Clare photo

“It was one of the few things he had to believe in, the possibility of beauty when faced with the reality of so much ugliness.”

Cassandra Clare (1973) American author

Source: The Last Stand of the New York Institute

John F. Kennedy photo

Related topics