The Artist Has A Special Task And

Iron And Coal Dominated Everywhere, From Grey To Black: The Black Boots, The Black Stove-pipe Hat, The Black Coach Or Carriage, The Black Iron Frame Of The Hearth, The Black Cooking Pots And Pans And Stoves. Was It A Mourning? Was It Protective Coloration? Was It Mere Depression Of The Senses? No Matter What The Original Color Of The Paleotechnic Milieu Might Be It Was Soon Reduced By Reason Of The Soot And Cinders That Accompanied Its Activities, To Its Characteristic Tones, Grey, Dirty-brown, Black.

Life Is The Only Art That We Are Required To Practice Without Preparation, And Without Being Allowed The Preliminary Trials, The Failures And Botches, That Are Essential For The Training...

Because Of Their Origin And Purpose, The Meanings Of Art Are Of A Different Order From The Operational Meanings Of Science And Technics: They Relate, Not To External Means And Consequences, But To Internal Transformations, And Unless It Produce These Internal Transformations The Work Of Art Is Either Perfunctory Or Dead.

Western Society Has Accepted As Unquestionable A Technological Imperative That Is Quite As Arbitrary As The Most Primitive Taboo: Not Merely The Duty To Foster Invention And Constantly To Create Technological Novelties, But Equally The Duty To Surrender To These Novelties Unconditionally, Just Because They Are Offered, Without Respect To Their Human Consequences.

Each Religion Is A Brave Guess At The Authorship Of Hamlet. Yet, As Far As The Play Goes, Does It Make Any Difference Whether Shakespeare Or Bacon Wrote It? Would It Make Any Difference To The Actors If Their Parts Happened Out Of Nothingness, If They Found Themselves Acting On The Stage Because Of Some Gross And Unpardonable Accident? Would It Make Any Difference If The Playwright Gave Them The Lines Or Whether They Composed Them Themselves, So Long As The Lines Were Properly Spoken? Would It Make Any Difference To The Characters If 'a Midsummer Night's Dream' Was Really A Dream?