John Berger Quotes

The happiness of being envied is glamour.Being envied is a solitary form of reassurance. It depends precisely upon not sharing your experience with those who envy you. You are observed with interest but you do not observe with interest - if you do, you will become less enviable. In this respect the envied are like bureaucrats; the more impersonal they are, the greater the illusion (for themselves and for others) of their power. The power of the glamorous resides in their supposed happiness: the power of the bureaucrat in his supposed authority.

John Berger

Glamour cannot exist without personal social envy being a common and widespread emotion.

John Berger

History always constitutes the relation between a present and its past. Consequently fear of the present leads to mystification of the past

John Berger

History always constitutes the relation between a present and its past. Consequently fear of the present leads to mystification of the past

John Berger