"We must wash literature off ourselves. We want to be men above all, to be human"
- Antonin Artaud
About this Quote
Antonin Artaud, a French playwright and poet, believed that literature and creative expression had actually become too removed from reality. In his essay, "The Theatre and its Double," he composed, "We must clean literature off ourselves. We wish to be guys above all, to be human." Artaud believed that art must serve a function beyond home entertainment and must make every effort to interact the raw, primal feelings of mankind. He believed that by stripping away the artificiality of literature and focusing on the important aspects of human experience, we could get in touch with our real essence and end up being more completely human. Artaud's ideas were prominent in the advancement of Surrealism and the progressive motion in art and literature.
"A lawyer without history or literature is a mechanic, a mere working mason; if he possesses some knowledge of these, he may venture to call himself an architect"
"Even in literature and art, no man who bothers about originality will ever be original: whereas if you simply try to tell the truth (without caring twopence how often it has been told before) you will, nine times out of ten, become original without ever having noticed it"
