Everyone is born into a certain era. I wouldn't want to see anyone faced with the circumstances that prevailed at the time, when there were few or no alternatives.
Gunter GrassRead
Art is uncompromising, and life is full of compromises.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Art demands perfection while life often requires us to settle for less.
This quote by Gunter Grass highlights the inherent conflict between the idealism of art and the practicality of everyday life. In art, creators strive for an uncompromising vision and excellence, whereas life inevitably involves making compromises and adjusting one's aspirations to align with reality. This contrast serves as a reminder that while art can be a pursuit of purity and passion, life is about navigating and balancing various demands and limitations.
Themes
ArtLifeCompromisesIdealismPerfection
In practice
Example use cases
This quote can be used in a speech about creativity in the workplace.
More from Gunter Grass
All quotes βI wept when the muse Ulla bent over me. Blinded by tears I could not prevent her from kissing me, I could not prevent the Muse from giving me that terrible kiss. All of you who have ever been kissed by the Muse will surely understand that Oskar, once branded by that kiss, was condemned to take back the drum he had rejected years before, the drum he had buried in the sand of Sapse Cemetery.
Gunter GrassRead
Today I know that all things are watching, that nothing goes unseen, that even wallpaper has a better memory than human beings.
Gunter GrassRead
I did not volunteer for the Waffen SS, but was, as were thousands of my year group, conscripted. I did not then know as a 17-year-old that it was a criminal unit. I thought it was an elite unit.
Gunter GrassRead
If work and leisure are soon to be subordinated to this one utopian principle - absolute busyness - then utopia and melancholy will come to coincide: an age without conflict will dawn, perpetually busy - and without consciousness.
Gunter GrassRead
I belonged to the generation that grew up under National Socialism, and was blinded and led astray - and allowed itself to be led astray.
Gunter GrassRead
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