Freedom would be not to choose between black and white but to abjure such prescribed choices.
Theodor AdornoRead
Art is magic delivered from the lie of being truth.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Art transcends reality, revealing deeper truths beyond mere appearances.
The quote by Theodor Adorno suggests that art has the power to convey profound truths that go beyond the superficial understanding of reality. By labeling art as 'magic,' Adorno emphasizes its enchanting ability to reveal the complexities of existence and provoke critical thinking, encouraging viewers to question accepted notions of truth.
Themes
ArtTruthMagicRealityBeauty
In practice
Example use cases
This quote could be used in a discussion about the role of art in society.
More from Theodor Adorno
All quotes →What can oppose the decline of the west is not a resurrected culture but the utopia that is silently contained in the image of its decline.
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Wrong life cannot be lived rightly.
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Auschwitz begins wherever someone looks at a slaughterhouse and thinks: they’re only animals.
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The splinter in your eye is the best magnifying-glass available.
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The culture industry not so much adapts to the reactions of its customers as it counterfeits them.
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O for a Muse of fire, that would ascend The brightest heaven of invention, A kingdom for a stage, princes to act And monarchs to behold the swelling scene!
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As the beautiful does not exist for the artist and poet alone—though these can find in it more poignant depths of meaning than other men—so the world of Reality exists for all; and all may participate in it, unite with it, according to their measure and to the strength and purity of their desire.
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Let me fall out of the window/ With confetti in my hair
Tom WaitsRead