Art, it is said, is not a mirror, but a hammer: it does not reflect, it shapes.

Leon Trotsky

Literature and Revolution

More information about this quote

Topic

Effects of art Art

Author

Leon Trotsky

Source

Literature and Revolution

Genre

Political literature

Language

Russian

Time

1924 1920s 20th century

Occupation

Marxist revolutionary Marxist Revolutionary Politician Writer

From

Ukraine Europe

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Trotsky, Leon. Литература и революция [Literature and Revolution]. Soviet Government, 1924.

Current Citation

Trotsky, Leon. Literature and Revolution, edited by William Keach. Haymarket Books, 2005.

Illustrated Quote

A quote by Leon Trotsky about effects of art: “Art, it is said, is not a mirror, but a hammer: it does not reflect…”
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A quote by Leon Trotsky about effects of art: “Art, it is said, is not a mirror, but a hammer: it does not reflect…”
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A quote by Leon Trotsky about effects of art: “Art, it is said, is not a mirror, but a hammer: it does not reflect…”
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Related Quotes

Below are one or more quotes that share at least one tag with the quote at the top of the page

Another quote from the 1920s

Hold fast to dreams
For if dreams die
Life is a broken-winged bird
That cannot fly.

Hold fast to dreams
For when dreams go
Life is a barren field
Frozen with snow.

Langston Hughes

Dreams

Read Dreams at poets.org
More information about this quote
Topic
Dreams

Author

Langston Hughes
Source
Dreams The World Tomorrow
Medium
Poem
Language
English
Time
1923 1920s 20th century
Authentication Score 3
Original Citation

Hughes, Langston. “Dreams.” The World Tomorrow, May 1923, I. 1.

Current Citation

Hughes, Langston. “Dreams.” The Collected Works of Langston Hughes: Essays on Art, Race, Politics, and World Affairs. Vol. 9, University of Missouri Press, 2001.

Another quote about Art

The most perfect of all works of art is true political freedom.

Friedrich Schiller

More information about this quote
Topic
Freedom Art

Author

Friedrich Schiller
Medium
Treatise
Genre
Philosophical literature
Language
German
Time
1794 1790s 18th century
Authentication Score 3
Original Citation

Schiller, Friedrich. "Über die ästhetische Erziehung des Menschen in einer Reihe von Briefen [On the Aesthetic Education of Man]." Horen, Jan. 1795, letter 2.

Current Citation

Schiller, Friedrich. On the Aesthetic Education of Man, edited by Alexander Schimidt, translated by Kenneth Tribe. Penguin Classics, 2016, letter 2.

Another quote originally in Russian

I decided it is better to scream. This pitiful sound, which sometimes, goodness knows how, reaches into the remotest prison cell, is a concentrated expression of the last vestige of human dignity. It is a man's way of leaving a trace, of telling people how he lived and died. By his screams he asserts his right to live, sends a message to the outside world demanding help and calling for resistance. If nothing else is left, one must scream. Silence is the real crime against humanity.

Nadezhda Mandelstam

Hope Against Hope

Buy Hope Against Hope at Amazon Buy Hope Against Hope at Amazon
More information about this quote
Topic
Soviet Union

Author

Nadezhda Mandelstam
Source
Hope Against Hope
Genre
Autobiography and memoir
Language
Russian
Time
1970 1970s 20th century
Authentication Score 3
Citation

Mandelstam, Nadezhda. Hope Against Hope. The Chekov Press/Atheneum, 1970, ch. 11.