Living substance conquers the frenzy of destruction only in the ecstasy of procreation.
Walter BenjaminRead
Of all the ways of acquiring books, writing them oneself is regarded as the most praiseworthy method. Writers are really people who write books not because they are poor, but because they are dissatisfied with the books which they could buy but do not like.
Interpretation
Writing books is a noble pursuit driven by dissatisfaction with existing literature.
Walter Benjamin suggests that the act of writing books is the highest form of acquiring knowledge and literature because it stems from a deep-seated dissatisfaction with the current offerings in books. Writers engage in this creative process not out of lack of resources but from a fervent desire to express their unique viewpoints and fill the gaps they see in existing literature.
In practice
In a discussion about the value of original works, this quote emphasizes the importance of authorship.
Living substance conquers the frenzy of destruction only in the ecstasy of procreation.
The illiterate of the future will not be the man who cannot read the alphabet, but the one who cannot take a photograph.
If mythic violence is lawmaking, divine violence is law-destroying; if the former sets boundaries, the latter boundlessly destroys them; if mythic violence brings at once guilt and retribution, divine power only expiates; if the former threatens, the latter strikes; if the former is bloody, the latter is lethal without spilling blood
Writers are really people who write books not because they are poor, but because they are dissatisfied with the books which they could buy but do not like.
Nothing is poorer than a truth expressed as it was thought. Committed to writing in such cases, it is not even a bad photograph. Truth wants to be startled abruptly, at one stroke, from her self-immersion, whether by uproar, music or cries for help.
I am unpacking my library. Yes I am. The books are not yet on the shelves, not yet touched by the mild boredom of order.
Who can estimate the real wealth that inheres in a fine character. . . . How base and mean money and huge estates look in comparison. All other things fade before it. Its touch is like magic to win friendship, influence, power. Can you afford to chill, to discourage, to crush out of your life this sweet, sensitive plant, which would flower in your nature and give added glory to your life, for the sake of a few dollars, a little questionable fame?
Don't use big words. They mean so little.
Audacity, always audacity - soundest principal of strategy.
I have not wanted syllables where actions have spoken so plainly.
All promise outruns performance.
Sometimes a tree tells you more than can be read in books.
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