Quote #61,582

"A primary function of art and thought is to liberate the individual from the tyranny of his culture ..." — Lionel Trilling

A primary function of art and thought is to liberate the individual from the tyranny of his culture in the environmental sense and to permit him to stand beyond it in an autonomy of perception and judgment.
Lionel Trilling
Lionel Trilling Critic • American
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Independence Environmental

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It is possible that the contemplation of cruelty will not make us humane but cruel; that the reiteration of the badness of our spiritual condition will make us consent to it.
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The poet is in command of his fantasy, while it is exactly the mark of the neurotic that he is possessed by his fantasy.
— Lionel Trilling
It is now life and not art that requires the willing suspension of disbelief.
— Lionel Trilling
The immature artist imitates. Mature artists steal.
— Lionel Trilling