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61 Notable Quotes By Walter Benjamin That Will Illuminate Your Path

Famous As: German Jewish Philosopher, Cultural Critic and Essayist
Born On: July 15, 1892
Died On: September 26, 1940
Born In: Berlin, Germany
Died At Age: 48
Walter Benjamin was a German-Jewish philosopher, cultural and literary critic and essayist. He was active with the ‘Western Marxism’ and ‘Marxist hermeneutics’. Walter was born to a prosperous Jewish family in Berlin. He was formally educated at the Kaiser Friedrich School in ‘Charlottenburg’. He was an alumnus of ‘University of Freiburg’, and ‘The University of Berlin’. He settled in Berlin during the 1920s and worked as a translator and a literary critic. The war played the villain when his literary career begun and he shifted to Paris in 1933. Walter is acclaimed for his letters and essays that showed much intellect and mostly surrounded Zionism. Fearing his capture by the Nazis, he committed suicide in 1940. ‘The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction’, ‘The Task of the Translator’ and ‘Theses on the Philosophy of History’ were his most exalted works. His association with great thinkers and literary geniuses of his time is considered the backing of his works. In modern times, Walter is regarded as one of the most renowned German literary critics. This great personality made an infamous era bright by his thinking and work. Here is a treasure trove of sayings and quotations by the great writer and critic. Go through the notable quotes and sayings by Walter Benjamin which are minimized depiction of his persona.
History is written by the victors.

History is written by the victors.

Walter Benjamin
The only way of knowing a person is to love them without hope.

The only way of knowing a person is to love them without hope.

Walter Benjamin
Writers are really people who write books not because they are poor, but because they are dissatisfied with the books which they could buy but do not like.

Writers are really people who write books not because they are poor, but because they are dissatisfied with the books which they could buy but do not like.

Walter Benjamin
There is no document of civilization that is not at the same time a document of barbarism.

There is no document of civilization that is not at the same time a document of barbarism.

Walter Benjamin
How many cities have revealed themselves to me in the marches I undertook in the pursuit of books!

How many cities have revealed themselves to me in the marches I undertook in the pursuit of books!

Walter Benjamin
To be happy is to be able to become aware of oneself without fright.

To be happy is to be able to become aware of oneself without fright.

Walter Benjamin
Work on a good piece of writing proceeds on three levels: a musical one, where it is composed; an architectural one, where it is constructed; and finally, a textile one, where it is woven.

Work on a good piece of writing proceeds on three levels: a musical one, where it is composed; an architectural one, where it is constructed; and finally, a textile one, where it is woven.

Walter Benjamin
It is the task of the translator to release in his own language that pure language that is under the spell of another, to liberate the language imprisoned in a work in his re-creation of that work.

It is the task of the translator to release in his own language that pure language that is under the spell of another, to liberate the language imprisoned in a work in his re-creation of that work.

Walter Benjamin
You could tell a lot about a man by the books he keeps - his tastes, his interest, his habits.

You could tell a lot about a man by the books he keeps - his tastes, his interest, his habits.

Walter Benjamin
Every passion borders on the chaotic, but the collector's passion borders on the chaos of memories.

Every passion borders on the chaotic, but the collector's passion borders on the chaos of memories.

Walter Benjamin
The work of memory collapses time.

The work of memory collapses time.

Walter Benjamin
All efforts to make politics aesthetic culminate in one thing, war.

All efforts to make politics aesthetic culminate in one thing, war.

Walter Benjamin
In the end, we get older, we kill everyone who loves us through the worries we give them, through the troubled tenderness we inspire in them, and the fears we ceaselessly cause.

In the end, we get older, we kill everyone who loves us through the worries we give them, through the troubled tenderness we inspire in them, and the fears we ceaselessly cause.

Walter Benjamin
It is only for those without hope that hope is given.

It is only for those without hope that hope is given.

Walter Benjamin
No poem is intended for the reader, no picture for the beholder, no symphony for the listener.

No poem is intended for the reader, no picture for the beholder, no symphony for the listener.

Walter Benjamin
Ideas are to objects as constellations are to stars [translated from Trauerspiel, 1928].

Ideas are to objects as constellations are to stars [translated from Trauerspiel, 1928].

Walter Benjamin
What has been forgotten.... is never something purely individual.

What has been forgotten.... is never something purely individual.

Walter Benjamin
Death is the sanction of everything the story-teller can tell. He has borrowed his authority from death.

Death is the sanction of everything the story-teller can tell. He has borrowed his authority from death.

Walter Benjamin
Let no thought pass incognito, and keep your notebook as strictly as the authorities keep their register of aliens.

Let no thought pass incognito, and keep your notebook as strictly as the authorities keep their register of aliens.

Walter Benjamin
Our image of happiness is indissolubly bound up with the image of redemption.

Our image of happiness is indissolubly bound up with the image of redemption.

Walter Benjamin
I came into the world under the sign of Saturn -- the star of the slowest revolution, the planet of detours and delays.

I came into the world under the sign of Saturn -- the star of the slowest revolution, the planet of detours and delays.

Walter Benjamin
Boredom is the dream bird that hatches the egg of experience. A rustling in the leaves drives him away.

Boredom is the dream bird that hatches the egg of experience. A rustling in the leaves drives him away.

Walter Benjamin
There is no document of civilization that is not also a document of barbarism.

There is no document of civilization that is not also a document of barbarism.

Walter Benjamin
Work on good prose has three steps: a musical stage when it is composed, an architectonic one when it is built, and a textile one when it is woven.

Work on good prose has three steps: a musical stage when it is composed, an architectonic one when it is built, and a textile one when it is woven.

Walter Benjamin
The distracted person, too, can form habits.

The distracted person, too, can form habits.

Walter Benjamin
Languages are not strangers to on another.

Languages are not strangers to on another.

Walter Benjamin
All human knowledge takes the form of interpretation.

All human knowledge takes the form of interpretation.

Walter Benjamin
Any order is a balancing act of extreme precariousness.

Any order is a balancing act of extreme precariousness.

Walter Benjamin
Books, too, begin like the week – with a day of rest in memory of their creation. The preface is their Sunday.

Books, too, begin like the week – with a day of rest in memory of their creation. The preface is their Sunday.

Walter Benjamin
The film is the first art form capable of demonstrating how matter plays tricks on man.

The film is the first art form capable of demonstrating how matter plays tricks on man.

Walter Benjamin