Matei Calinescu famous quotes

Kitsch lends itself to a definition in terms of a systematic attempt to fly from daily reality: in time and in space.
-- Matei Calinescu

#Reality #Space #Definitions

A real Rembrandt hung in a millionaire's home elevator would undoubtedly make for kitsch.
-- Matei Calinescu

#Real #Home #Kitsch

While a forgery illegally exploits the elitist taste for rarity, a kitsch object insists on its anti elitist availability. The deceptive character of kitsch does not lie in whatever it may have in common with actual forgery but in its claim to supply its consumers with essentially the same kinds and qualities of beauty as those embodied in unique or rare and inaccessible originals.
-- Matei Calinescu

#Lying #Character #Unique

Kitsch may be conveniently defined as a specifically aesthetic form of lying.
-- Matei Calinescu

#Lying #May #Kitsch

Don't we all have an itch for kitsch?
-- Matei Calinescu

#Kitsch

Get up now and go and find Robert Kilroy-Silk. Smile in a warm, friendly sort of way, then punch him on the nose. Now go and find Robert on television, despite my best endeavours, this is still relatively easy to do. Wait for a close-up, same smile, and punch him on the nose. If you followed the instructions carefully, you will have noticed a distinct difference. On the one hand, you were suffused with a sense of public-spirited righteousness; on the other, you're probably dribbling blood. That's the difference between reality in life and reality on television.

All the best stories in the world are but one story in reality - the story of escape. It is the only thing which interests us all and at all times, how to escape.

The language itself is what gets me interested in writing. It's weird to me that words exist. Never a dull moment with words. They're a layer between our minds and the physical reality around us, obviously, but the layer seems like it's always in flux, like an asteroid belt, constantly moving.

The ultimate Consciousness is always present everywhere. It is beyond space and time, with not before or after. It is undeniable and obvious. So what can be said about it?

There is a realm of time where the goal is not to have but to be, not to own but to give, not to control but to share, not to subdue but to be in accord. Life goes wrong when the control of space, the acquisition of things of space, becomes our sole concern.

The meaning of the Sabbath is to celebrate time rather than space. Six days a week we live under the tyranny of things of space; on the Sabbath we try to become attuned to holiness in time. It is a day on which we are called upon to share in what is eternal in time, to turn from the results of creation to the mystery of creation; from the world of creation to the creation of the world.

Definition of 'Free': You pay for it whether or not you elect to receive it.

I always wear a dinner jacket. I never have this definition of what goes for the morning or the evening or what works for the weekend.

Retaliation is related to nature and instinct, not to law. Law, by definition, cannot obey the same rules as nature.

The true definition of madness is repeating the same action, over and over, hoping for a different result.