Herbert Read, an English poet, philosopher, and art critic, is renowned for his contributions to the understanding of art and culture. A key figure in the development of modern art theory, Read's works emphasized the importance of creativity and the human imagination in both art and life. His belief in the transformative power of art has inspired generations of artists, critics, and thinkers to explore the deeper meanings of human expression. Read's legacy is one of intellectual curiosity and creative exploration, encouraging others to embrace the beauty and significance of the world around them.
"It was Nietzsche who first made us conscious of the significance of the individual as a term in the evolutionary process-in that part of the evolutionary process which has still to take place."
"My own early experiences in war led me to suspect the value of discipline, even in that sphere where it is so often regarded as the first essential for success."
"Progress is measured by richness and intensity of experience - by a wider and deeper apprehension of the significance and scope of human existence."
"It does not seem that the contradiction which exists between the aristocratic function of art and the democratic structure of modern society can ever be resolved."
"I call religion a natural authority, but it has usually been conceived as a supernatural authority."
"The point I am making is that in the more primitive forms of society the individual is merely a unit; in more developed forms of society he is an independent personality."
"The assumption is that the right kind of society is an organic being not merely analogous to an organic being, but actually a living structure with appetites and digestions, instincts and passions, intelligence and reason."
"The worth of a civilization or a culture is not valued in the terms of its material wealth or military power, but by the quality and achievements of its representative individuals - its philosophers, its poets and its artists."
"There are a few people, but a diminishing number, who still believe that Marxism, as an economic system, off era a coherent alternative to capitalism, and socialism has, indeed, triumphed in one country."
"But the further step, by means of which a civilization is given its quality or culture, is only attained by a process of cellular division, in the course of which the individual is differentiated, made distinct from and independent of the parent group."
"The farther a society progresses, the more clearly the individual becomes the antithesis of the group."
"The most general law in nature is equity-the principle of balance and symmetry which guides the growth of forms along the lines of the greatest structural efficiency."
"A man of personality can formulate ideals, but only a man of character can achieve them."
"You might think that it would he the natural desire of every man to develop as an independent personality, but this does not seem to be true."
"We may be sure that out of the ruins of our capitalist civilization a new religion will emerge, just as Christianity emerged from the ruins of the Roman civilization."
"What I do deny is that you can build any enduring society without some such mystical ethos."