375 Quotes by Walter Benjamin

Not architecture alone but all technology is, at certain stages, evidence of a collective dream.

Pessimism all along the line. Absolutely. Mistrust in the fate of literature, mistrust in the fate of freedom, mistrust in the fate of European humanity, but three times mistrust in all reconciliation: between classes, between nations, between individuals. And unlimited trust only in IG Farben and the peaceful perfecting of the air force. But what now? What next?

Like a clock of life on which the seconds race, the page number hangs over the characters in a novel. Where is the reader who has not once lifted to it a fleeting, fearful glance?

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

A bearer of news of death appears to himself as very important. His feeling – even against all reason – makes him a messenger from the realm of the dead.

Of all the ways of acquiring books, writing them oneself is regarded as the most praiseworthy method. 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.