Everybody thinks they know what art should be. But very few of them have the sense that is necessary to experience painting, that is the sense of sight, that sees colors and forms as living reality in the picture.
Otto DixRead
I had to experience how someone beside me suddenly falls over and is dead and the bullet has hit him squarely. I had to experience that quite directly. I wanted it. I'm therefore not a pacifist at all - or am I?
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote reflects the harsh realities of war and the moral complexities it creates in individuals.
Otto Dix's quote reveals the traumatic experience of witnessing death in war, suggesting a confrontation with mortality that can challenge a person's beliefs about violence and pacifism. In grappling with the intense emotions and moral dilemmas that arise from such experiences, he questions his own stance on pacifism, indicating that the realities of life and death can complicate ideals about peace.
Themes
WarDeathPacifismMoralityViolence
In practice
Example use cases
This quote can be used in a discussion about the psychological impacts of war during a lecture.
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A great dread fell on him, as if he was awaiting the pronouncement of some doom that he had long foreseen and vainly hoped might after all never be spoken. An overwhelming longing to rest and remain at peace by Bilbo's side in Rivendell filled all his heart. At last with an effort he spoke, and wondered to hear his own words, as if some other will was using his small voice. "I will take the Ring," he said, "though I do not know the way.
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Sir, I am not a brave man...The truth is, I am an utter craven coward. I have never been within the sound of gunshot or in sight of battle in my whole life that I wasn't so scared that I had sweat in the palms of my hands.
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Insurrection is the most sacred of rights and the most indispensable of duties.
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It's a struggle for every young Black man. You know how it is, only God can judge us.
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What is a fear of living? It's being preeminently afraid of dying. It is not doing what you came here to do, out of timidity and spinelessness. The antidote is to take full responsibility for yourself - for the time you take up and the space you occupy. If you don't know what you're here to do, then just do some good.
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