270 Quotes by John Berger

A drawing is essentially a private work, related only to the artist's own needs; a 'finished' statue or canvas is essentially a public, presented work - related far more directly to the demands of communication.

Sometimes, because of its immediacy, television produces a kind of electronic parable. Berlin, for instance, on the day the Wall was opened. Rostropovich was playing his cello by the Wall that no longer cast a shadow, and a million East Berliners were thronging to the West to shop with an allowance given them by West German banks! At that moment the whole world saw how materialism had lost its awesome historic power and become a shopping list.

Until 1954, I'd only ever thought of being a painter, but I earned my money when and where I could. You could say I drifted into writing.

The animal has secrets which, unlike the secrets of caves, mountains, seas are specifically addressed to man.

Nothing fortuitous happens in a child's world. There are no accidents. Everything is connected with everything else and everything can be explained by everything else. . . . For a young child everything that happens is a necessity.

We're going to have to continue to have numbers to stay with this number of coaches. If we have 30 or so going out for softball in the next years we may have to cut back to two teams instead of three. The numbers will indicate if we continue to chase this thing. 15 members on a team isn't too many when you're playing double headers. We need to do this before we set the schedule. It's too late to start cutting back now.

The camera relieves us of the burden of memory.

Men act and women appear. Men look at women. Women watch themselves being looked at.

Malevich, Lissitsky, Kandinsky, Tatlin, Pevsner, Rodchenko… all believed in the social role of art… Their works were like hinged doors, connecting activity with activity. Art with engineering; music with painting; poetry with design; fine art with propaganda; photographs with typography; diagrams with action; the studio with the street…