"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.
"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"
