Like the collector, the photographer is animated by a passion that, even when it appears to be for the present, is linked to a sense of the past.
Susan SontagRead
Conventions vs. spontaneity. This is a dialectical choice, it depends on the assessment you make of your own times. If you judge that your own time is ridden with empty insincere formalities, you plump for spontaneity, for indecorous behavior even...Much of morality is the task of compensating for one's age. One assumes unfashionable virtues, in an indecorous time. In a time hollowed out by decorum, one must school oneself in spontaneity.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote emphasizes the balance between adhering to societal norms and embracing spontaneity based on the moral climate of one's time.
Susan Sontag’s quote explores the conflict between conventional behavior and spontaneous actions in the context of morality and societal expectations. She suggests that in times filled with insincerity and formality, individuals might lean towards spontaneity and authenticity, even if it means breaking social norms. To navigate moral dilemmas, one must sometimes adopt unconventional virtues in order to counterbalance the superficiality of the surrounding culture and encourage genuine expression.
Themes
ConventionsSpontaneityMoralityAuthenticitySociety
In practice
Example use cases
During a lecture on modern ethics, one might use this quote to illustrate the clash between traditional values and current societal pressures.
More from Susan Sontag
All quotes →Science fiction films are not about science. They are about disaster, which is one of the oldest subjects of art.
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Gide and I have attained such perfect intellectual communion that I experience the appropriate labor pains for every thought he gives birth to!
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Volume depends precisely on the writer's having been able to sit in a room every day, year after year, alone.
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In NY sensuality completely turns into sexuality - no objects for the senses to respond to, no beautiful river, houses, people. Awful smells of the street, and dirt... Nothing except eating, if that, and the frenzy of the bed.
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It hurts to love. It's like giving yourself to be flayed and knowing that at any moment the other person may just walk off with your skin.
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