The Ideal of Culture Quotes

“Orwell asks: “What is the relationship between agreement with a writer’s opinions, and enjoyment of his work?” Orwell doesn’t quite get around to answering this question, so let me answer it for him by saying that, in politics, where agreement exists it is usually immensely improved. As for Orwell’s own politics, a subject of much contention, it can be said that all interpretations are equal,”
― Joseph Epstein, The Ideal of Culture: Essays

“I wonder if, in the current age, our so-called Information Age, knowing “what one doesn’t want to know” isn’t among the greatest gifts that the acquisition of culture can bestow.”
― Joseph Epstein, The Ideal of Culture: Essays