In an era ruled by materialism and unstable geopolitics, art must be restored to the center of public education.
Camille PagliaRead
The trauma of the Sixties persuaded me that my generation's egalitarianism was a sentimental error. I now see the hierarchical as both beautiful and necessary. Efficiency liberates; egalitarianism tangles, delays, blocks, deadens.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote reflects a change in perspective from valuing equality to appreciating hierarchy as essential for efficiency and beauty.
Camille Paglia expresses a transformation in her philosophical beliefs regarding societal structures. Initially influenced by the egalitarian ideals of her generation, she now argues that hierarchy is not only necessary for efficiency but also holds an inherent beauty. This perspective suggests that striving for equality can lead to inefficiencies that hinder progress, while embracing hierarchical structures can facilitate liberation and vitality in society.
Themes
HierarchyEgalitarianismEfficiencySocietyProgress
In practice
Example use cases
In a discussion about societal structures, this quote could illustrate the importance of hierarchy.
More from Camille Paglia
All quotes →Every month, it is woman's fate to face the abyss of time and being, the abyss which is herself.
Camille PagliaRead
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.
Camille PagliaRead
The male orientation of classical Athens was inseparable from its genius. Athens became great not despite but because of its misogyny.
Camille PagliaRead
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.
Camille PagliaRead
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.
Camille PagliaRead
Similar quotes
We can be blind to the obvious, and we are also blind to our blindness.
Daniel KahnemanRead
How can we find spiritual meaning in a scientific worldview? Spirituality is a way of being in the world, a sense of one’s place in the cosmos, a relationship to that which extends beyond oneself. . . . Does scientific explanation of the world diminish its spiritual beauty? I think not. Science and spirituality are complementary, not conflicting; additive, not detractive. Anything that generates a sense of awe may be a source of spirituality. Science does this in spades. (158-159)
Michael ShermerRead
Things happen, people change,' is what Amanda said. For her that covered it. You wanted an explanation, and ending that would assign blame and dish up justice. You considered violence and you considered reconciliation . But what you are left with is a premonition of the way your life will fade behind you, like a book you have read too quickly, leaving a dwindling trail of images and emotions, until all you can remember is a name.
Jay McinerneyRead
I looked up at the mass of signs and stars in the night sky and laid myself open for the first time to the benign indifference of the world.
Albert CamusRead
If our extinction proceeds slowly enough to allow a moment of horrified realization, the doers of the deed will likely be quite taken aback on realizing that they have actually destroyed the world. Therefore I suggest that if the Earth is destroyed, it will probably be by mistake.
Eliezer YudkowskyRead
And what constitutes evil, real evil, is the taking of a single human life. Whether a man would die tomorrow or the day after or eventually... it doesn't matter. Because if God does not exist, then life... every second of it... Is all we have.
Anne RiceRead