Quote by Eugene Ionesco

Realism, whether it be socialist or not, falls short of reality. It shrinks it, attenuates it, falsifies it; it does not take into account our basic truths and our fundamental obsessions: love, death, astonishment. It presents man in a reduced and estranged perspective. Truth is in our dreams, in the imagination.

Realism, whether it be socialist or not, falls short of real

Summary

This quote criticizes realism, both in socialist and general contexts, for its limitations in capturing the true essence of reality. Realism is accused of diminishing and distorting reality by disregarding universal human experiences like love, death, and awe. It argues that realism presents a distorted and disconnected view of humanity. Instead, the quote suggests that truth lies within our dreams and imagination, emphasizing the importance of these elements in understanding the genuine nature of existence.

Topics

Reality

By Eugene Ionesco

Liked the quote? Share it with your friends.

Random Quotations

One of the darkest evils of our world is surely the unteacha

One of the darkest evils of our world is surely the unteachable wildness of the Good.

H. G. [Herbert George] Wells

Goodness

SIR ROBERT CHILTERN: But may I ask, at heart, are you an op

SIR ROBERT CHILTERN: But may I ask, at heart, are you an optimist or a pessimist? Those seem to be the only two fashionable religions left to us nowadays.MRS CHEVELEY: Oh, I'm neither. Optimism begins in a broad grin, and Pessimism ends with blue spectacles. Besides, they are both of them merely poses.SIR ROBERT CHILTERN: You prefer to be natural?MRS CHEVELEY: Sometimes. But it is such a very difficult pose to keep up.(Act I., lines 132-140)

Pessimism Optimism Poses

Animals have a much better attitude to life and death than w

Animals have a much better attitude to life and death than we do. They know when their time has come. We are the ones that suffer when they pass, but it's a healing kind of grief that enables us to deal with other griefs that are not so easy to grab hold of.

Attitude

That deed which in our guilt we today call weakness, will ap

That deed which in our guilt we today call weakness, will appear tomorrow as an essential link in the complete chain of Man

Weakness Mankind

The moral principles and precepts contained in the Scripture

The moral principles and precepts contained in the Scripture ought to form the basis of all our civil constitutions and laws.

Politics Religion Inspirational

Screenplays I didn't really care about, journalism, travel b

Screenplays I didn't really care about, journalism, travel books, getting my writer friends to write about their dreams or something. I just determined to write the books I had to write.

Dreams

I have a thing for evil bald bad guys. The Kurgan is too sex

I have a thing for evil bald bad guys. The Kurgan is too sexy.

Beauty Humor Funny

No one knew me until I met my wife Lulu. Lulu's mother used

No one knew me until I met my wife Lulu. Lulu's mother used to ask, Which one is Maurice? For six months she thought Lulu was dating Barry.

Oh lovers! be careful in those dangerous first days! once yo

Oh lovers! be careful in those dangerous first days! once you've brought breakfast in bed you'll have to bring it forever, unless you want to be accused of lovelessness and betrayal.

Love

Nature is often hidden, sometimes overcome, seldom extinguis

Nature is often hidden, sometimes overcome, seldom extinguished.

Nature

I do genuinely believe that the political system is not line

I do genuinely believe that the political system is not linear. When it reaches a tipping point fashioned by a critical mass of opinion, the slow pace of change we're used to will no longer be the norm. I see a lot of signs every day that we're moving closer and closer to that tipping point.

Change

When I was in junior high school, the teachers voted me the

When I was in junior high school, the teachers voted me the student most likely to end up in the electric chair.

Sylvester Stallone

Teacher