Theodore Roszak Quotes & Sayings

The more people have time to experience the joys of creativity, the less they will be consumers, especially of mass-produced culture. I see that as a kind of new wealth that counts for more than owning material things. I also see art as something people will do rather than consume, and do it as a natural part of their lives; creative endeavors are a form of profound spiritual satisfaction. — Theodore Roszak

Nothing we ever imagined is beyond our powers, only beyond our present self-knowledge. — Theodore Roszak

Nature composes some of her loveliest poems for the microscope and the telescope. — Theodore Roszak

We are nothing if we are not the sum total of our physique and the history of the actions of our physique
that we carry with us in body and in memory. (Body - Michael McClure) — Theodore Roszak

It may, after all, be the bad habit of creative talents to invest themselves in pathological extremes that yield remarkable insights but no durable way of life for those who cannot translate their psychic wounds into significant art or thought. — Theodore Roszak

Deprived of bread or the equal benefits of the commonwealth, the person shrivels. Obviously. And that is a clear line to fight on. But when the transcendent energies waste away, then too the person shrivels
though far less obviously. Their loss is suffered in privacy and bewildered silence; it is easily submerged in affluence, entertaining diversions, and adjustive therapy. Well fed and fashionably dressed, surrounded by every manner of mechanical convenience and with our credit rating in good order, we may even be ashamed to feel we have any problem at all. — Theodore Roszak

I think, however, the current fascination with the computer and its principal product, information, deserves a more critical response. This is because the computer does so ingeniously mimic human intelligence that it may significantly shake our confidence in the uses of the mind. And it is the mind that must think about all things, including the computer. — Theodore Roszak

Environmentalists, by and large, are very deeply invested in tactics that have worked to their satisfaction over the last thirty years, namely scaring and shaming people ... I am questioning whether you can go on doing that indefinitely ... [pushing] that same fear-guilt button over and over again. As psychologists will tell you, when a client comes in with an addiction, they are already ashamed. You don't shame them further. — Theodore Roszak

Meanwhile, as the party ascended to ever dizzier alcoholic altitudes ... — Theodore Roszak

The blood is our strength, for it is the power of the heavens and the Earth within us — Theodore Roszak

The art of cinema begins with scraping the chewing gum off the seats. — Theodore Roszak

Good magic opens the mysteries to all; bad magic seeks simply to mystify. — Theodore Roszak