“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.”

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

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

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Hermann Cohen10

German philosopher 1842–1918

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