Quotes by Eugen Lovinescu

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Far from stepping on the threshold of Europe with empty hands, we step not only with the possibilities of an original soul and as a background and as a form, but also with categorical affirmations, in solidarity with each other, but differentiated in the chromatics of universal literature.

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Romanian literature is therefore not presented as an overlap of individualities, but as a sum, as an organic totality of ethnic characteristics, virtual in popular production and realized in cultured literature by artists of undoubted talent...

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A literature does not exist through scattered individuals but through a harmonious organization. The presence of a solitary genius proves nothing; the originality of a literature lies in its specific notes; distinguishing us from others, they constitute our own physiognomy...

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The arts emerged from the beginnings of civilization, from the first contact with nature seen and with the invisible forces suspected behind it, from the spiritual and social rudiments: ecstasy, joy, exaltation, pain, the feeling of the divine, they gave the hymn, the dance, the music, - the elegy , drama, philosophy; social life with all its conflicts gave eloquence, epic, history.

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The more national the art, the more it gains in universal significance.

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To be of a new generation, therefore, is not to be young - many of the young being old - but to participate actively in elaborating the subtlety of the age and fixing its style; to be from a new generation means to be contemporary with yourself, to be the exponent of the aesthetic aspirations of the historical moment and to realize them through a maximum of expression in works, caduceus, if we look at them in the context of true soul correspondences in continuous movement, but characteristic. If we look at them historically in the light of the evolutionary principle of the aesthetic concept.

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Contact with life and nature is only a first stage in the creation process, valid only to the extent of the initial disaggregation into elements that will then be combined into new compositions; everyone has contact, and those who live it sublimate it, less so. Art begins beyond him, from his sublimation; internal combustion and daydreaming distortion and personal vision in new planes - but above all, the continuity of spiritual life.

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Art is, above all, the sign of man's power over chaos and death.

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All literary works are valued according to the degree of convergence of the national idea.

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You wouldn't even imagine good literature that isn't national in some way...

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Modern poetry has become a real algebraic problem, whose values ​​are signified by symbolic numbers; in order to be perceived and especially tasted, an initiation into the algebraic expression of sensations is also needed.

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It is a tendency of contemporary poetry to transpose reality into an unreal plane and to replace notation with equivalences...

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The literature of a people springs from the specific nature of its sensibility: it constitutes a chapter of ethical psychology.

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Romanian literature asserts its existence not only through indisputable talents but also through specific and common characteristics. The artistic virtualities of race are evident in our popular poetry... Eminescu, Coșbuc, Creangă are not only outstanding talents but also points on the border of our soul map.

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I believe in progress and in the self-victory of moral values ​​against any dictatorial impositions; even if hangmen rise in the theater square, the literature of this country will not become imbeciles.

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There is no progress in art outside of originality, specificity and contemporaneity.

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Failure is a conformity between reality and will, and translates into a state of mind of dissatisfaction and irritation; believing that what was due to him was taken away, the loser is envious of all those who have reached further than him, made responsible for his failure.