Standards are always out of date. That's what makes them standards.
Alan BennettRead
Above literature?' said the Queen. 'Who is above literature? You might as well say one was above humanity.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote suggests that literature is a fundamental aspect of human experience, comparable to humanity itself.
Alan Bennett's quote emphasizes the intrinsic value of literature in relation to human existence. It argues that literature is not just an art form but is intertwined with our humanity, and to place it below other pursuits is to diminish the essence of being human. The speaker, likely the Queen, challenges the notion of superiority over literature, asserting that one cannot elevate themselves above something so central to life and the human condition.
Themes
LiteratureHumanityValueArtExistence
In practice
Example use cases
In a speech about the importance of books in education, one could quote this to emphasize the necessity of literature.
More from Alan Bennett
All quotes βTo begin with, it's true, she read with trepidation and some unease. The sheer endlessness of books outfaced her and she had no idea how to go on; there was no system to her reading, with one book leading to another, and often she had two or three on the go at the same time.
Alan BennettRead
A book is a device to ignite the imagination.
Alan BennettRead
Those who have known the famous are publicly debriefed of their memories, knowing as their own dusk falls that they will only be remembered for remembering someone else.
Alan BennettRead
To read is to withdraw.To make oneself unavailable. One would feel easier about it if the pursuit inself were less...selfish.
Alan BennettRead
The best moments in reading are when you come across something - a thought, a feeling, a way of looking at things - which you had thought special and particular to you. And now, here it is, set down by someone else, a person you have never met, someone even who is long dead. And it is as if a hand has come out, and taken yours
Alan BennettRead
Similar quotes
I believe this thought, of the possibility of death - if calmly realised, and steadily faced would be one of the best possible tests as to our going to any scene of amusement being right or wrong.
Lewis CarrollRead
Giving up attachment to the world does not mean that you set yourself apart from it. Generating a desire for others to be happy increases your humanity. As you become less attached to the world, you become more humane. As the very purpose of spiritual practice is to help others, you must remain in society.
Dalai LamaRead
All that money can do is buy us some one else's work in exchange for our own.
Henry FordRead
Trying to exhaust himself, Vaughan devised an endless almanac of terrifying wounds and insane collisions: The lungs of elderly men punctured by door-handles; the chests of young women impaled on steering-columns; the cheek of handsome youths torn on the chromium latches of quarter-lights. To Vaughan, these wounds formed the key to a new sexuality, born from a perverse technology. The images of these wounds hung in the gallery of his mind, like exhibits in the museum of a slaughterhouse.
J. G. BallardRead
Even if there were only two men left in the world and both of them saints they wouldn't be happy. One them would be bound to try and improve the other. That is the nature of things.
Frank O'ConnorRead
Similarly, knowledge of the future was incompatible with free will. What made it possible for me to exercise freedom of choice also made it impossible for me to know the future. Conversely, now that I know the future, I would never act contrary to that future, including telling others what I know: those who know the future don't talk about it. Those who've read the Book of Ages never admit to it.
Ted ChiangRead