It does not seem that the contradiction which exists between the aristocratic function of art and the democratic structure of modern society can ever be resolved. – Herbert Read
What I do deny is that you can build any enduring society without some such mystical ethos. – Herbert Read
We may be sure that out of the ruins of our capitalist civilization a new religion will emerge, just as Christianity emerged from the ruins of the Roman civilization. – Herbert Read
It is already clear, after twenty years of socialism in Russia, that if you do not provide your society with a new religion, it will gradually revert to the old one. – Herbert Read
And this prime hour of fragrance is the hour so many miss upon beds of sloth, never half knowing what a beautiful, marvellous world is around them. Not all the long hours of day can possibly bring back again the charm and blessedness of this, either to the body or to the soul. – Sarah Smiley