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
Any critic is entitled to wrong judgments, of course. But certain lapses of judgment indicate the radical failure of an entire sensibility.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Critics can make mistakes, but some errors reveal a deeper lack of understanding.
In this quote, Susan Sontag emphasizes that while everyone is entitled to their opinions and can make incorrect judgments, certain critical missteps reveal a fundamental deficiency in a person's overall sensibility or understanding of a topic. This suggests that the way one interprets and critiques reflects their deeper values and insights.
Themes
CriticismJudgmentUnderstandingSensibilityWisdom
In practice
Example use cases
In a discussion about art critique in an academic setting.
More from Susan Sontag
All quotes βScience 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.
Susan SontagRead
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