REALISM QUOTES II

quotations about realism

Realism quote

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

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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

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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


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

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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


There are always loose ends in real life.

ROBERT GALBRAITH

The Silkworm


True realism consists in revealing the surprising things which habit keeps covered and prevents us from seeing.

JEAN COCTEAU

Le Mystère Laïc

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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


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


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

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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

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Pure realism is both unsustainable and purposeless.

JOHN BEW

"The Idealist Roots of Realpolitic", The Washington Free Beacon


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

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