Every month, it is woman's fate to face the abyss of time and being, the abyss which is herself.
Camille PagliaRead
In an era ruled by materialism and unstable geopolitics, art must be restored to the center of public education.
Interpretation
Art should be prioritized in education, especially during challenging times.
This quote by Camille Paglia emphasizes the importance of art in the educational system, particularly in an age where material concerns and political instability dominate society. Art, she argues, has a vital role in shaping culture and critical thinking, and thus should be placed at the forefront of public education to foster more comprehensive human understanding and creativity.
In practice
In a speech advocating for increased funding for schools, I might quote Paglia to highlight the need for art in education.
Every month, it is woman's fate to face the abyss of time and being, the abyss which is herself.
Serial or sex murder, like fetishism, is a perversion of male intelligence. It is a criminal abstraction, masculine in its deranged egotism and orderliness. It is the asocial equivalent of philosophy, mathematics, and music. There is no female Mozart because there is no female Jack the Ripper.
The male orientation of classical Athens was inseparable from its genius. Athens became great not despite but because of its misogyny.
We should teach general ethics to both men and women, but sexual relationships themselves must not be policed. Sex, like the city streets, would be risk-free only in totalitarian regimes.
Popular culture is the new Babylon, into which so much art and intellect now flow. It is our imperial sex theater, supreme temple of the western eye. We live in the age of idols. The pagan past, never dead, flames again in our mystic hierarchies of stardom.
In the real world, very smart people fail and mediocre people rise. Part of what makes people fail or succeed are skills that have nothing to do with IQ. Also, the idea that intelligence can be gauged by an IQ test is erroneous.
Nothing is more satisfying than to write a good sentence. It is no fun to write lumpishly, dully, in prose the reader must plod through like wet sand. But it is a pleasure to achieve, if one can, a clear running prose that is simple yet full of surprises. This does not just happen. It requires skill, hard work, a good ear, and continued practice.
I don't want to write for adults. I want to write for readers who can perform miracles. Only children perform miracles when they read.
I have learned more [from Balzac] than from all the professional historians, economists, and statisticians put together.
You go to school, you study about the Germans and the French, but not about your own race. I hope the time will come when you study black history too.
Young screenwriters are always very frustrated when they talk to me. They say, 'How do we get to be a screenwriter?' I say, 'You know what you do? I'll tell you the secret, it's easy: Read 'Hamlet.' You know? Then read it again, and read it again, and read it until you understand it. Read 'King Lear,' and then read 'Othello.'
In nine months, a group of children left alone with a computer in any language will reach the same standard as an office secretary in the West.
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