"These critics organize and practice in my case a sort of obsessive personality cult which philosophers should know how to question and above all, to moderate"
- Jacques Derrida
About this Quote
This quote by Jacques Derrida speaks to the tendency of critics to form a cult-like following around particular figures. In this case, Derrida is describing himself as the item of this cult-like habits. He is recommending that thinkers need to be more vital of this habits and not take it at face value. He is likewise recommending that theorists ought to be more moderate in their method to criticism and not be so quick to form a cult-like following. This quote speaks to the significance of important thinking and the need to question and challenge the status quo. It likewise speaks with the need for small amounts in all aspects of life, including criticism. By questioning and moderating the behavior of critics, theorists can guarantee that their criticism is based upon sound thinking and not on a cult-like following.
"If the present Congress errs in too much talking, how can it be otherwise in a body to which the people send one hundred and fifty lawyers, whose trade it is to question everything, yield nothing, and talk by the hour?"
