Ernst Fischer

“I don't want life to imitate art. I want life to be art.”

“In a decaying society, art, if it is truthful, must also reflect decay. And unless it wants to break faith with its social function, art must show the world as changeable. And help to change it.”

“If you can't pay for a thing, don't buy it. If you can't get paid for it, don't sell it. Do this, and you will have calm and drowsy nights, with all of the good business you have now and none of the bad. If you have time, don't wait for time.”

“To provoke dreams of terror in the slumber of prosperity has become the moral duty of literature.”

“The bosses of our mass media, press, radio, film and television, succeed in their aim of taking our minds off disaster. Thus, the distraction they offer demands the antidote of maximum concentration on disaster.”

“As machines become more and more efficient and perfect, so it will become clear that imperfection is the greatness of man.”