REALISM QUOTES II
quotations about realism
The commitment to realism is purposive but the purpose and form of that realism is variable because the subject is the purpose and form of art through which the concept of realism is mediated.
JAMIE MORGAN & MERVYN HARTWIG
introduction, Critical Realism and Spirituality
Realism and art cannot live together.
JENNETTE LEE
The Ibsen Secret
Any discussion between idealist and realist would never end.
TOBA BETA
Master of Stupidity
The positive argument for realism is that it is the only philosophy that doesn't make the success of science a miracle.
HILARY PUTNAM
Philosophical Papers: Volume 1, Mathematics, Matter and Method
Realism is condemned by those artists whose poverty of technique does not permit them to express it.
WALTER J. PHILLIPS
attributed, Art Quotes
Without a transcendental observer of all observers, realism is, at best, a contingent attempt to reduce contingency, and, at worst, a lack of reflexivity that transforms its own weakness into strength. Like the snake that bites its own tail, critical realism and radical constructivism are caught in a loop. On the first level of observation, realism is confirmed; on the second, it is reconstructed as a presupposition of the scientific point of view, which is, however, relativised as a contingent point of view.
FREDERIC VANDENBERGHE
introduction, What's Critical About Critical Realism?: Essays in Reconstructive Social Theory
After all, I, the reader, am the measure of all realism. Read as I do and you'll live up to Caesar's legacy.
MAURIZIO VIANO
A Certain Realism: Making Use of Pasolini's Film Theory and Practice
There is an instinct for realism, a powerful drive to reproduce oneself.
AUDREY FLACK
Art & Soul: Notes on Creating
The pessimist complains about the wind; the optimist expects it to change; the realist adjusts the sails.
WILLIAM ARTHUR WARD
attributed, Quotable Quotes
The term 'realism' is utterly misleading: it should be replaced by the distinct, though related, term of 'realisticness'.
THOMAS BOYLAN
Beyond Rhetoric and Realism in Economics: Towards a Reformulation of Methodology
True realism, materialist realism lies in the search for the expression of forms faithful to their content. But there is no content detached from human interest.
ASGER JORN
attributed, Aftermath France, 1945-54: New Images of Man
Would it not be better to have it understood that realism, in so far as the word means reality to life, is always bad art -- although it may possibly be very good journalism?
SHERWOOD ANDERSON
"A Note on Realism", The Literary Review, October 25, 1924
There are always loose ends in real life.
ROBERT GALBRAITH
The Silkworm
The form of the Gothic novel also implicitly contested the claims of Realism to reflect the world directly by showing how artificial its structure was.
MICHAEL RICHARDSON
Dedalus Book of Surrealism 2: The Myth of the World
Realism is a very sophisticated form of literature, a very grown-up one. And that may be its weakness. But fantasy seems to be eternal and omnipresent and always attractive to kids.
URSULA K. LE GUIN
interview, The Paris Review, fall 2013
Scholars, who pride themselves on speaking their minds, often engage in a form of self-censorship which is called "realism." To be "realistic" in dealing with a problem is to work only among the alternatives which the most powerful in society put forth. It is as if we are all confined to a, b, c, or d in the multiple choice test, when we know there is another possible answer. American society, although it has more freedom of expression than most societies in the world, thus sets limits beyond which respectable people are not supposed to think or speak.
HOWARD ZINN
Howard Zinn on War
True realism consists in revealing the surprising things which habit keeps covered and prevents us from seeing.
JEAN COCTEAU
Le Mystère Laïc
Some people argue against both optimism and pessimism in favor of so-called realistic thinking. They distrust optimism on the grounds that it causes us to sugercoat problems, discount risks, and exaggerate the upside. Pessimism, on the other hand, is criticized as too downbeat, de-energizing, and generally damaging in its impact. This crown prefers realism as the neutral and objective middle ground.
PRICE PRITCHETT
Hard Optimism
The leader has to be practical and a realist yet must talk the language of the visionary and the idealist.
ERIC HOFFER
The True Believer
Pure realism is both unsustainable and purposeless.
JOHN BEW
"The Idealist Roots of Realpolitic", The Washington Free Beacon