The Adjustment Of Reality To The Masses

Boredom Is The Dream Bird That Hatches The Egg Of Experience. A Rustling In The Leaves Drives Him Away.

Mechanical Reproduction Emancipates The Work Of Art From Its Parasitical Dependence On Ritual.

We Have Long Forgotten The Ritual By Which The House Of Our Life Was Erected. But When It Is Under Assault And Enemy Bombs Are Already Taking Their Toll, What Enervated, Perverse Antiquities Do They Not Lay Bare In The Foundations.

The Power Of A Text When It Is Read Is Different From The Power It Has When It Is Copied Out. Only The Copied Text Thus Commands The Soul Of Him Who Is Occupied With It, Whereas The Mere Reader Never Discovers The New Aspects Of His Inner Self That Are Opened By The Text, That Road Cut Through The Interior Jungle Forever Closing Behind It: Because The Reader Follows The Movement Of His Mind In The Free Flight Of Day-dreaming, Whereas The Copier Submits It To Command.

By Close-ups Of The Things Around Us, By Focusing On Hidden Details Of Familiar Objects, By Exploring Commonplace Milieus Under The Ingenious Guidance Of The Camera, The Film, On The One Hand, Extends Our Comprehension Of The Necessities Which Rule Our Lives; On The Other Hand, It Manages To Assure Us Of An Immense And Unexpected Field Of Action.