Quotes from Terry Eagleton

The work of art had nothing as vulgar as a social purpose.

The distinction between elitism and socialism is in effect one between present and future.

o socialismo exige uma expansão das forças produtivas, mas a tarefa de expandi-las cabe não ao socialismo em si, mas ao capitalismo

We will know that socialism has established itself when we are able to look back with utter incredulity on the idea that a handful of commercial thugs were given free rein to corrupt the minds of the public with Neanderthal political views convenient for their own bank balances but for little else.

A ideia de que jamais deveríamos tentar extrair o melhor da natureza é tolice sentimental

Kultura je kroz povijest bila uskra?ena golemoj ve?ini, a onih nekoliko sretnika koji danas od nje žive, žive na ra?un rada onih koji to ne mogu.

Alienation, the "commodification" of social life, a culture of greed, aggression, mindless hedonism and growing nihilism, the steady haemorrhage of meaning and value from human existence: it is hard to find an intelligent discussion of these questions that is not seriously indebted to the Marxist tradition.

Marx rejeitava era o mito sentimental do Estado como fonte de harmonia, pacificamente unindo diferentes grupos e classes. Para ele, o Estado era mais uma fonte de divisão do que de concórdia

High modernism is numinous through and through, as the work of art provides one of the last outposts of enchantment in a spiritually degenerate world. Postmodernism, with its notorious absence of affect, is post-numinous. It is also in a sense post-aesthetic, since the aestheticisation of everyday life extends to the point where it undermines the very idea of a special phenomenon known as art. Stretched far enough, the category of the aesthetic cancels itself out.

Nations sometimes flourish by denying the crimes that brought them into being. Only when the original invasion, occupation, extermination or usurpation has been safely thrust into the political unconscious can sovereignty feel secure.

At every stage, public debate over alternative economic plans and policies would be essential. In this way, what and how we produce could be determined by social need rather than private profit. Under capitalism, we are deprived of the power to decide whether we want to produce more hospitals or more breakfast cereals. Under socialism, this freedom would be regularly exercised.

Os que perguntam o que haverá de derrubar o capitalismo costumam se esquecer de que, em certo sentido, isso é desnecessário. O capitalismo é perfeitamente capaz de desmoronar sob o peso das próprias contradições sem sequer um microempurrão de seus oponentes

classes só se tornam de fato classes quando se conscientizam de si mesmas como tal

There are those for whom the spectacular successes of science have rendered religion redundant; and there are others for whom those successes spring from a fundamental fact - that our minds seem somehow attuned to the fundamental stuff of the world - which is itself cause for metaphysical reflection.

Post-structuralism is among other things a kind of theoretical hangover from the failed uprising of '68, a way of keeping the revolution warm at the level of language, blending the euphoric libertarianism of that moment with the stoical melancholia of its aftermath.

On handing the book back to my friend, the woman inquired Is he gay? No, said my friend. The woman pondered for a moment. Is he English? she asked.

Não é preciso tornar as pessoas fisicamente incapazes de usar violência para acabar com uma guerra

Americans come out of the comparison rather better. They may overdo emotion, but they are not fearful of it. A surplus of feeling has rarely done as much damage as a deficiency of it.

Marxists want nothing more than to stop being Marxists. In this respect, being a Marxist is nothing like being a Buddhist or a billionaire.

o fato de que os indivíduos esteja mais felizes significa que será mais difícil dizer o que eles estarão fazendo às cinco da tarde de uma quarta-feira

It is silly to call fat people gravitationally challenged, a self-righteous fetishism of language which is no more than a symptom of political frustration.

Quem quiser saber aquilo que homens e mulheres creem precisa dar uma olhada no que eles fazem, não no que dizem

The trick is to keep cutting the present off from the past. In this way, you can try to deny the fact that the past is what we are made of, and that there would be no present without it. One of the several problems with this way of living is that it is not clear how what is reborn every moment can be said to be you. Personal identity involves a degree of continuity.

Discussing the character of Elizabeth Bennet in Pride and Prejudice is a matter of content (of 'what?'), whereas examining Jane Austen's techniques of characterisation is a question of form (or 'how?'). Some may find these fine distinctions scholastic, but then some find any fine distinctions scholastic.