"Tradition does not mean that the living are dead, it means that the dead are living"
- Harold MacMillan
About this Quote
In this quote, Harold MacMillan is highlighting the importance of custom and how it need to not be viewed as something that is obsoleted or unimportant. He argues that tradition is not about maintaining the past, but rather about keeping the memories and traditions of those who have actually died alive. By honoring and continuing customs, we are keeping the spirits and impact of our ancestors alive. This quote also recommends that custom is a method to get in touch with our roots and maintain a sense of continuity and identity. It reminds us that the dead might physically be gone, but their impact and presence can still be felt through the customs we uphold.
"Homer's whole language, the language in which he lived, the language that he breathed, because he never saw it, or certainly those who formed his tradition never saw it, in characters on the pages. It was all on the tongue and in the ear"
"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"
"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"
"However, I began to submit poems to British magazines, and some were accepted. It was a great moment to see my first poems published. It felt like entering a tradition"
"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"
