What makes art in general, and literature in particular, remarkable, what distinguishes them from life, is precisely that they abhor repetition. In everyday life, you can tell the same joke thrice and, thrice getting a laugh, become the life of the party. In art, though, this sort of conduct is called 'cliche.'
Interpretation
Art and literature achieve their value by avoiding repetition, unlike everyday life where repetition can be amusing.
Joseph Brodsky highlights the distinction between art and everyday life through the concept of repetition. In daily life, repetitive actions, such as telling the same joke multiple times, can lead to social success and enjoyment, while in art and literature, such repetition is viewed negatively and is labeled as 'cliche,' indicating that true artistic expression requires originality and fresh perspectives.
In practice
This quote could be used in an art critique to emphasize the importance of originality in creative work.
Basically, it's hard for me to assess myself, a hardship not only prompted by the immodesty of the enterprise, but because one is not capable of assessing himself, let alone his work. However, if I were to summarize, my main interest is the nature of time. That's what interests me most of all. What time can do to a man.
One always pulls the trigger out of self-interest and quotes history to avoid responsibility or pangs of conscience.
On the whole, infinity is a fairly palpable aspect of this business of publishing, if only because it extends a dead author's existence beyond the limits he envisioned, or provides a living author with a future he cannot measure. In other words, this business deals with the future which we all prefer to regard as unending.
The invention of ethical and political doctrines, which blossomed into our own social sciences, is a product of times when things appeared manageable. The same goes for the criticism of those doctrines, though as a voice from the past, this criticism proved prophetic.
Try not to pay attention to those who will try to make life miserable for you. There will be a lot of those - in the official capacity as well as the self-appointed.
To put it in plain language, Russia is that country where the name of a writer appears not on the cover of his book, but on the door of his prison cell.
The most watched programme on the BBC, after the news, is probably 'Doctor Who.' What has happened is that science fiction has been subsumed into modern literature. There are grandparents out there who speak Klingon, who are quite capable of holding down a job. No one would think twice now about a parallel universe.
Japanese chefs believe our soul goes into our knives once we start using them. You wouldn't put your soul in a dishwasher!
I'm just someone who likes cooking and for whom sharing food is a form of expression.
This is no book. Whoever touches this touches a man.
Bad artists copy. Good artists steal.
Casting sometimes is fate and destiny more than skill and talent, from a director's point of view.
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