Hannah Arendt

“I agree completely. There is a temptation among intellectuals to see tragedy as culturally productive — but one should never forget the cost.”

“History records the books that were written. It cannot record all the books that were never allowed to exist.”

“The first step is to recognize that monuments are not neutral. People often imagine that monuments simply preserve history. They do not. They express a judgment about history.”

“A monument says: “This person deserves public remembrance.””

“The question therefore is never merely historical. It is political. And politics changes when war enters the picture.”

“Different people answer that question differently. And that is precisely why these disputes become so emotional.”

“It must. Otherwise culture becomes a museum.”

“Before answering, we must avoid a dangerous confusion. There is a difference between responsibility and guilt.”

“Yet this does not mean culture is irrelevant. Culture may shape the conditions under which people think. It may encourage courage or conformity. It may cultivate judgment — or discourage it.”

“A healthy culture produces its own critics. In fact, one measure of cultural vitality may be the quality of its dissenters.”

“The greatest cultures often contain their sharpest critics.”

“And the opposite is equally dangerous. A culture that cannot criticize itself becomes fragile. But a culture that only criticizes itself eventually loses confidence in its own inheritance.”

“Wisdom lies between self-worship and self-contempt.”

“Not criticism.”

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