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>Reviewing bad books, W. H. Auden once remarked, is bad for the character. Like all gifted moralists, Auden idealized despite himself, and he should have survived into the present age, wherein the new commissars tell us that reading good books is bad for the character, which I think is probably true. Reading the very best writers-let us say Homer, Dante, Shakespeare, Tolstoy-is not going to make us better citizens. Art is perfectly useless, according to the sublime Oscar Wilde, who was right about everything. He also told us that all bad poetry is sincere. Had I the power to do so, I would command that these words be engraved above every gate at every university, so that each student might ponder the splendor of the insight.
What did he mean by this?
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That the pursuit of art for the sake of art is an empty thing.
He says this often in his writings. He appreciates the power of the written word but that doesn't meant it's mostly useless.
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>>7572471
>Reading the very best writers-let us say Homer, Dante, Shakespeare, Tolstoy-is not going to make us better citizens
Tolstoy has made me a better person though
don't know what type of measure of 'usefulness' he's using here
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>>7572471
>according to the sublime Oscar Wilde, who was right about everything.
Lol Wilde admitted he made up shit as long as it sounded cool
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>>7573677
it's tongue in cheek about him being right about making it up too
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>>7572512
>don't know what type of measure of 'usefulness' he's using here
he tells you
>is not going to make us better citizens
>Tolstoy has made me a better person
pay attention.
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