Wyndham Lewis
Wyndham Lewis
Percy Wyndham Lewiswas an English painter and author. He was a co-founder of the Vorticist movement in art, and edited the literary magazine of the Vorticists, BLAST. His novels include his pre-World War I-era novel Tarr, and The Human Age, a trilogy comprising The Childermass, Monstre Gai and Malign Fiesta, set in the afterworld. A fourth volume of The Human Age, The Trial of Man, was begun by Lewis but left in a fragmentary state at the time of his...
NationalityEnglish
ProfessionPainter
Date of Birth18 November 1882
order broken broken-up
Contradict yourself. In order to live, you must remain broken up.
taken dull today
Revolution today is taken for granted, and in consequence becomes rather dull.
islands ifs
What is the good of being an island, if you are not a volcanic island?
determination men self
Feminism was recognized by the average man as a conflict in which it was impossible for a man, as a chivalrous gentleman, as a respecter of the rights of little nations (like little Belgium), as a highly evolved citizen of a highly civilized community, to refuse the claim of this better half to self-determination.
country home america
I feel most at home in the United States, not because it is intrinsically a more interesting country, but because no one really belongs there any more than I do. We are all there together in its wholly excellent vacuum.
purpose use principles
Almost anything that can be praised or advocated has been put to some disgusting use. There is no principle, however immaculate, that has not had its compromising manipulator.
peace perfect would-be
If the world would only build temples to Machinery in the abstract then everything would be perfect. The painter and sculptor would have plenty to do, and could, in complete peace and suitably honored, pursue their trade without further trouble.
waste abundance
Where there is abundance you can afford waste.
depressing cities mind
The streets of a modern city are depressing. They are so aimless and so weak in their lines and their masses, that the mind and senses jog on their way like passengers in a train with blinds down in an overcrowded carriage.
teacher mind doe
The teacher does not have to be, although he has to know: he is the mind imagining, not the executant.
zero artist car
What every artist should try to prevent is the car, in which is our civilized life, plunging over the side of the precipice -- the exhibitionist extremist promoter driving the whole bag of tricks into a nihilistic nothingness or zero.
practice discipline perception
Lewis sought no disciples, nor does he offer a program or solution, rather his contribution is a critical discipline. Lewis is a stimulant, a mode of perception, rather than a position or practice.
laughter self tragedy
Laughter is the climax in the tragedy of seeing, hearing and smelling self-consciously.
anomalies coats top-hats
Lenin in a top hat and frock coat would be a far greater anomaly than the Grand Lama of Thibet or a Zulu chief in that costume.