Quotes By André Breton
There are many quotes from André Breton, the famous father of international surrealism who made history. This doctor went down in history for his poems, his essays, his novels and, of course, his theoretical contributions to surrealism.
The various quotations by André Breton are reported and repeated today, as a symbol of an era and an intellectual position. Surrealist posters serve as a beacon to an entire generation that saw in them a new way of looking at the world.
The French artist’s concept of the extraordinary was a mixture of psychoanalysis, Marxism and anarchy. This ensemble resulted in a unique artist, who was praised by great men of his time, such as Octavio Paz and Salvador Dalí. Here are some of the most remembered quotes by André Breton.
5 quotes by André Breton
1. Wealth, a paradoxical argument
This is one of André Breton’s quotes on the paradoxes of culture. It demonstrates the reality that revolves around the concept of material wealth. In a way it denounces the profound emptiness that surrounds this concept.
Indeed, wealth is a transitory reality that in one way or another is always surrounded by nothingness. As Breton says, if it is not spent it is like having nothing. And if rejected, it even turns into something trivial and dies out.
2. The madmen and the imagination
In this sentence André Breton associates three concepts: madness, imagination and transgression. The reference point is represented by the rules. These serve as a starting point for defining what is madness and what is not.
Anyone who breaks certain rules is classified as insane. But who says that those who respect the rules cannot be classified in the same way? This is one of André Breton’s phrases that demonstrates that dialectic halfway between what is considered “reasonable”, because it is predetermined, and what “is not reasonable”, because it moves away from what has already been established.
3. One of André Breton’s quotes on the rebellion
In this sentence André Breton reveals his talent as an eternal revolutionary, engaged in the processes of change. But instead of linking it to political aspects, it associates it rather with great values.
This French poet has always moved between political militancy and creative freedom. Finally, he leaned towards the latter, which is why his thinking has been oriented more towards those great internal and daily transformations than towards the great changes in the systems of power.
4. This is surrealism
The phrase is a clear metaphor of the deepest surrealist spirit. A convincing statement in favor of the imagination, above reason and the senses. That function of going beyond what is material, which is also proper to human beings.
In the world of symbols, what is impossible in the material world becomes possible. And the human being, whether dreaming or awake, can have access to the impossible which, however, gives full meaning to many realities that otherwise would be silly or absurd.
5. Thought and shoes in the quotations by André Breton
André Breton’s intention was to exalt the imagination to the maximum. He was responsible for the famous slogan that the students wielded during the French May of 1968, and which read: “Imagination in power” .
This quote is a plea not to be realistic. Although it is a virtue for those who make life a project and utilitarianism a priority, it also ends up being a prison for the human being. Some walk with their feet firmly on the ground, others fly.
André Breton’s quotes are all an eternal manifesto that calls for freedom, which it is possible to reach, in the end, through the art of the imagination. His thinking marked an era and he was responsible for many interesting human inventions.
