My conception of the audience is of a public each member of which is carrying about with him what he thinks is an anxiety, or a hope, or a preoccupation which is his alone and isolates him from mankind; and in this respect at least the function of a play is to reveal him to himself so that he may touch others by virtue of the revelation of his mutuality with them. If only for this reason I regard the theater as a serious business, one that makes or should make man more human, which is to say, less alone.
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In literature as in ethics, there is danger, as well as glory, in being subtle. Aristocracy isolates us.
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Lovers of painting and lovers of music are people who openly display their preference like a delectable ailment that isolates them and makes them proud.
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Just as a chemist 'isolates' a substance from contaminations that distort his view of its nature and effects, so the work of art purifies sign...
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Not only does democracy make every man forget his ancestors, but also clouds their view of their descendants and isolates them from their contemporaries. Each man is for ever thrown back on himself alone, and there is danger that he may be shut up in the solitude of his own heart.
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A creation of importance can only be produced when its author isolates himself, it is a child of solitude.
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