Posts tagged Barzun
Columbia alumni remember Jacques Barzun at Pachecano home in San Antonio by Theresa_QViews on Flickr.
San Antonio, December 15, 2012
![Jacques Barzun in His Own Words
“Finding oneself was a misnomer: a self is not found but made; and the antihero, anti-history bias was an obstacle to making it, because a starting point from the past was missing; it had to be made from scratch.” From Dawn to Decadence, 2000, p. 785.
“Education in the United States is a passion and a paradox. Millions want it and commend it, and are busy about it, at the same time as they are willing to degrade it by trying to get it free of charge and free of work.” The House of Intellect, 1959, p. 93.
“Dress has of course never been rational, except in Tahiti.” From Dawn to Decadence, 2000, p. 184.
“Whoever wants to know the heart and mind of America had better learn baseball, the rules and realities of the game—and do it by watching first some high school or small-town teams.” God’s Country and Mine, 1956, p. 159.
“The French call motjuste the word that exactly fits. Why is that word generally so hard to find? The reasons are many. First we do not always know what we mean and are too lazy to find out.” Simple & Direct, [1975] 2001, p. 18.
“The book, like the bicycle, is a perfect form.” From Dawn to Decadence, 2000, p. 18.
“The Truth is that Simple English is no one’s mother tongue. It has to be worked for.” Teacher in America, 1943, ch. 4.
“Art distills sensation and embodies it with enhanced meaning in memorable form—or else it is not art.” The House of Intellect, 1959, p. 165.
[“Jacques Barzun has noted that political correctness does not legislate tolerance; it only organizes hatred.” George Roche, The Fall of the Ivory Tower: Government Funding, Corruption, and the Bankrupting of American Higher Education, 1994, p. 206.] The reference seems to be to: “…the American university had begun to lose its soul through misguided public service, and students had grievances they should have analyzed and publicized. But by organizing hatred instead, by assaulting and imprisoning their teachers, dividing faculties into factions, turning weak heads into cowards and demagogues, ignoring the grave and legitimate causes for reform, advocating the bearing of arms on campus, and preferring ‘confrontation’ to getting their own way, hostile students have ushered in the reactionary university of the future, medieval model.” Begin Here, 1991, p. 191.
“In the artistic or intellectual life … you cannot, most often, see the fruit of the day’s work. It is invisible, and remains so, maybe, for twenty years. Or if visible, it fails to make any deep impression—it can be as slight of bulk as a sonnet or a formula.” Teacher in America, 1943, ch. 21.](http://25.media.tumblr.com/a46e5ee20cdd426671c6f683ae3018b0/tumblr_mf4m3h5p5d1qzmkjxo1_400.jpg)
Jacques Barzun in His Own Words
“Finding oneself was a misnomer: a self is not found but made; and the antihero, anti-history bias was an obstacle to making it, because a starting point from the past was missing; it had to be made from scratch.” From Dawn to Decadence, 2000, p. 785.
“Education in the United States is a passion and a paradox. Millions want it and commend it, and are busy about it, at the same time as they are willing to degrade it by trying to get it free of charge and free of work.” The House of Intellect, 1959, p. 93.
“Dress has of course never been rational, except in Tahiti.” From Dawn to Decadence, 2000, p. 184.
“Whoever wants to know the heart and mind of America had better learn baseball, the rules and realities of the game—and do it by watching first some high school or small-town teams.” God’s Country and Mine, 1956, p. 159.
“The French call motjuste the word that exactly fits. Why is that word generally so hard to find? The reasons are many. First we do not always know what we mean and are too lazy to find out.” Simple & Direct, [1975] 2001, p. 18.
“The book, like the bicycle, is a perfect form.” From Dawn to Decadence, 2000, p. 18.
“The Truth is that Simple English is no one’s mother tongue. It has to be worked for.” Teacher in America, 1943, ch. 4.
“Art distills sensation and embodies it with enhanced meaning in memorable form—or else it is not art.” The House of Intellect, 1959, p. 165.
[“Jacques Barzun has noted that political correctness does not legislate tolerance; it only organizes hatred.” George Roche, The Fall of the Ivory Tower: Government Funding, Corruption, and the Bankrupting of American Higher Education, 1994, p. 206.] The reference seems to be to: “…the American university had begun to lose its soul through misguided public service, and students had grievances they should have analyzed and publicized. But by organizing hatred instead, by assaulting and imprisoning their teachers, dividing faculties into factions, turning weak heads into cowards and demagogues, ignoring the grave and legitimate causes for reform, advocating the bearing of arms on campus, and preferring ‘confrontation’ to getting their own way, hostile students have ushered in the reactionary university of the future, medieval model.” Begin Here, 1991, p. 191.
“In the artistic or intellectual life … you cannot, most often, see the fruit of the day’s work. It is invisible, and remains so, maybe, for twenty years. Or if visible, it fails to make any deep impression—it can be as slight of bulk as a sonnet or a formula.” Teacher in America, 1943, ch. 21.
at the Majestic Theatre, San Antonio, TX, May 15, 2012
