Pollak's Arm Quotes

“Every memory has its own truth; otherwise it wouldn’t exist.”
― Hans von Trotha, Pollak's Arm

“There’s no telling with the gods.”
― Hans von Trotha, Pollaks Arm

“Solace is found in true grandeur, not in ideas, which orbit around that which is grand but possess no real grandeur of their own.”
― Hans von Trotha, Pollaks Arm

“When looking to unite a nation, one needs a king, a national hero, and a national museum.”
― Hans von Trotha, Pollaks Arm

“I know how it feels to be someplace you no longer belong, or to no longer be in the place you do belong, because that place has ceased to exist. I know what it’s like to be robbed of your foundation walls, how difficult it becomes to stand firm or stand at all, to provide others with protection. It’s impossible to imagine; it must be experienced, although best avoided. I wouldn’t wish it upon anyone.”
― Hans von Trotha, Pollaks Arm

“Bigwig is a word Pollak uses a lot. It signifies a species he has always wrestled with and rebelled against. Saturated with indignation and profound disdain, the word stands for a power imbalance as inappropriate as it is unacceptable.”
― Hans von Trotha, Pollaks Arm

“He was using memories of the past to defer the present.”
― Hans von Trotha, Pollak's Arm

“A catalogue represents real research, something new and distinct. It requires great patience, extensive knowledge, and a real love of the object.”
― Hans von Trotha, Pollak's Arm

“The catalogue is his calling. It’s his medium, his way of leaving a tangible legacy of answers, not just questions. Perhaps it expresses his desire to impose order on the bewildering world around us; the narrower context provided by an art collection allows us to examine that world and convert it into a system, a unified whole accessible to all. The catalogue may serve to demonstrate that order or harmony, even completeness is possible. As far as Pollak is concerned, both building a collection and cataloguing it are forms of art.”
― Hans von Trotha, Pollak's Arm