Quotessence
Home / Quotes / Quote by John Berger

Quote by John Berger

“A people or a class which is cut off from its own past is far less free to choose and to act as a people or class than one that has been able to situate itself in history. This is why - and this is the only reason why - the entire art of the past has now become a political issue.”

Quote by John Berger

Work

Ways of Seeing

John Berger's influential book explores the relationship between seeing and understanding visual images, examining the historical and cultural contexts that shape our visual experiences. more

Author

John Berger
John Berger

John Berger, born on November 5, 1926 and died on January 2, 2017, was a renowned British art critic and writer. His work spanned across various fields including painting, photography, and literature, known for his unique perspective and profound insights. more

You May Also Like

“As we can learn from every man or woman or child around us when, touched and moved, they tell of something they loved or hated this day, yesterday, or some other day long past. At a given moment, the fuse, after sputtering wetly, flares, and the fireworks begin. Oh, it's limping crude hard work for many, with language in their way. But I have heard farmers tell about their very first wheat crop on their first farm after moving from another state, and if it wasn't Robert Frost talking, it was his cousin, five times removed. I have heard locomotive engineers talk about America in the tones of Thomas Wolfe who rode our country with his style as they ride it in their steel. I have heard mothers tell of the long nights with their firstborn when they were afraid that they and the baby might die. And I have heard my grandmother speak of her first ball when she was seventeen. And they were all, when their souls grew warm, poets.”