Harold Rosenberg Quotes

Only conservatives believe that subversion is still being carried on in the arts and that society is being shaken by it. Advanced art today is no longer a cause -- it contains no moral imperative. There is no virtue in clinging to principles and standards, no vice in selling or in selling out.

The differences between revolution in art and revolution in politics are enormous. Revolution in art lies not in the will to destroy but in the revelation of what has already been destroyed. Art kills only the dead.

Only conservatives believe that subversion is still being carried on in the arts and that society is being shaken by it. Advanced art today is no longer a cause, it contains no moral imperative. There is no virtue in clinging to principles and standards, no vice in selling or in selling out.

American time has stretched around the world. It has become the dominant tempo of modern history, especially of the history of Europe.

The story of Americans is the story of arrested metamorphoses. Those who achieve success come to a halt and accept themselves as they are. Those who fail become resigned and accept themselves as they are.

The purpose of education is to keep a culture from being drowned in senseless repetitions, each of which claims to offer a new insight.

No degree of dullness can safeguard a work against the determination of critics to find it fascinating.