The strange power of art is sometimes it can show that what people have in common is more urgent than what differentiates them. It seems to me it's something that theatre can do, but it's rare; it's very rare.
John BergerRead
A man's presence suggests what he is capable of doing to you or for you. By contrast, a woman's presence... defines what can and cannot be done to her.
Interpretation
This quote highlights the differing societal perceptions of men's and women's roles and capabilities in interpersonal relationships.
John Berger's quote emphasizes the contrast in how men's and women's presences are perceived in society. A man's presence is often associated with his potential impact on others, suggesting power and capability, while a woman's presence is framed within the confines of what she allows or disallows in her interactions with others. This reflects broader themes of gender dynamics and societal expectations.
In practice
In a discussion on gender dynamics, this quote could serve to highlight the differing expectations placed on men and women.
The strange power of art is sometimes it can show that what people have in common is more urgent than what differentiates them. It seems to me it's something that theatre can do, but it's rare; it's very rare.
Unlike any other visual image, a photograph is not a rendering, an imitation or an interpretation of its subject, but actually a trace of it. No painting or drawing, however naturalist, belongs to its subject in the way that a photograph does.
We never look at just one thing; we are always looking at the relation between things and ourselves.
The camera relieves us of the burden of memory. It surveys us like God, and it surveys for us. Yet no other god has been so cynical, for the camera records in order to forget.
Propaganda requires a permanent network of communication so that it can systematically stifle reflection with emotive or utopian slogans. Its pace is usually fast.
Being a unique superpower undermines the military intelligence of strategy. To think strategically, one has to imagine oneself in the enemy's place. If one cannot do this, it is impossible to foresee, to take by surprise, to outflank. Misinterpreting an enemy can lead to defeat. This is how empires fall.
In any relationship in which two people become one, the end result is two half people.
I think we all change each other's paths. I don't know which law idea that is in physics, but I don't think any of us can live without affecting one another.
I know there is strength in the differences between us. I know there is comfort where we overlap.
The real trouble about the duty of forgiveness is that you do it with all your might on Monday and then find on Wednesday that it hasn't stayed put and all has to be done over again.
It was in Cihangir that i first learned Istanbul was not an anonymous multitude of walled-in lives - a jungle of apartments where no one knew who was dead or who was celebrating what - but an archipelago of neighbourhoods in which everyone knew each other.
I never meant to be a sexual object for anyone but my husband. I never thought a picture of my body would be tacked up in menβs bathrooms. I hate men looking at me and thinking what they think. And I know what they think. They write and tell me.
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