"You don't really need modernity in order to exist totally and fully. You need a mixture of modernity and tradition"
- Theodore Bikel
About this Quote
Theodore Bikel's quote suggests that modernity is not the only way to exist totally and absolutely. He suggests that a mix of modernity and tradition is essential to achieve this. This suggests that modernity alone is not enough to offer a complete and satisfying life. Instead, a balance between modernity and tradition is needed to produce a meaningful presence. This could mean that modernity should be welcomed, however not to the exclusion of conventional worths and practices. It might likewise indicate that conventional values and practices must be respected and protected, even as modernity advances. Eventually, Bikel's quote suggests that a balance in between modernity and tradition is needed to accomplish a fulfilling life.
"Monty Python crowd; half of them came from Cambridge, and half of them came from Oxford. But, there seems to be this jewel, this sort of two headed tradition of doing comedy, of doing sketches, and that kind of thing"
"I don't really know of the Jewish tradition of comedy, only the Jewish tradition of not keeping your mouth shut. Complaining about all that is hard, unfair or ridiculous in life-having strong feelings, and not being able to suppress them. That, to me, is Jewish"
"I say it is indispensable to look ahead of and behind oneself in the present. If there is such a thing as tradition, and I believe there is, it can only exist in the sense of the most profound movements of culture"
"Jackass: The Movie is great. I think it's in the tradition of physical comedy, which I'm really interested in. Its relationship to gravity, and how gravity acts on the body"
"Miles Davis fully embraced possibilities and delved into it. He was criticized heavily from the jazz side. He was supposed to be part of a tradition, but he didn't consider himself part of a tradition"
"Tradition means giving votes to the most obscure of all classes, our ancestors. It is the democracy of the dead. Tradition refuses to submit to that arrogant oligarchy who merely happen to be walking around"