Herbert Read
Herbert Read
Sir Herbert Edward Read, DSO, MCwas an English art historian, poet, literary critic and philospher, best known for numerous books on art, which included influential volumes on the role of art in education. Read was co-founder of the Institute of Contemporary Arts. He was one of the earliest English writers to take notice of existentialism...
NationalityEnglish
ProfessionPoet
progress differentiation degrees
Progress is measured by the degree of differentiation within a society.
coherence degrees evolution
In the evolution of mankind there has always been a certain degree of social coherence.
earliest group nomadic point primitive records species
The earliest records of our species point to group organizations - the primitive horde, nomadic tribes, settlements, communities, cities, nations.
military artist civilization
The worth of a civilization or a culture is not valued in the terms of its material wealth or military power, but by the quality and achievements of its representative individuals - its philosophers, its poets and its artists.
philosophy believe past
Nobody seriously believes in the social philosophies of the immediate past.
attitude political despair
The characteristic political attitude of today is not one of positive belief, but of despair.
miracle stillness
Love works miracles in stillness.
happiness may slave
The slave may be happy, but happiness is not enough.
umpires arbitration doe
I can imagine no society which does not embody some method of arbitration.
names anarchism knows
I know of no better name than Anarchism.
care spirit sin
The only sin is ugliness, and if we believed this with all our being, all other activities of the human spirit could be left to take care of themselves.
art doe modern
It does not seem that the contradiction which exists between the aristocratic function of art and the democratic structure of modern society can ever be resolved.
men chains stills
Man is everywhere still in chains.
destiny artist modern
The modern artist, by nature and destiny, is always an individualist.