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
To be desired is perhaps the closest anybody in this life can reach to feeling immortal.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Desire and the wish to be desired can give a sense of immortality and significance in life.
In this quote, John Berger reflects on the profound connection between desire and the human experience of existence. The idea of being desired suggests a lasting impact on others, as it creates a sense of relevance that transcends time, making individuals feel as if they have achieved a form of immortality through the love and affection they receive from others. Thus, the quote captures the essence of human connection and the powerful impact it can have on our perception of life and legacy.
Themes
DesireImmortalityHuman ConnectionLoveSignificance
In practice
Example use cases
In a discussion on the impact of relationships during a psychology seminar.
More from John Berger
All quotes βUnlike 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.
John BergerRead
We never look at just one thing; we are always looking at the relation between things and ourselves.
John BergerRead
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.
John BergerRead
Propaganda requires a permanent network of communication so that it can systematically stifle reflection with emotive or utopian slogans. Its pace is usually fast.
John BergerRead
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.
John BergerRead
Similar quotes
Christianity, unlike any other religion in the world, begins with catastrophe and defeat. Sunshine religions and psychological inspirations collapse in calamity and wither in adversity. But the Life of the Founder of Christianity, having begun with the Cross, ends with the empty tomb and victory.
Fulton J. SheenRead
Marseilles isn't a city for tourists. There's nothing to see. Its beauty can't be photographed. It can only be shared. It's a place where you have to take sides, be passionately for or against. Only then can you see what there is to see. And you realize, too late, that you're in the middle of a tragedy. An ancient tragedy in which the hero is death. In Marseilles, even to lose you have to know how to fight.
Jean-Claude IzzoRead
How smart does a chimpanzee have to be before killing him constitutes murder?
Carl SaganRead
Whoever cultivates the golden mean avoids both the poverty of a hovel and the envy of a palace.
HoraceRead
Never have I dealt with anything more difficult than my own soul, which sometimes helps me and sometimes opposes me.
Al-GhazaliRead
Beware of the words "internal security," for they are the eternal cry of the oppressor.
VoltaireRead