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About this quote

What does it mean?
Speer reduces Hitler’s political role to an artistic impulse, minimizing ideological intent.
In plain terms
This view sees Hitler as driven by creative urges rather than politics.
What can you take from it?
Artistic impulses can drive people toward destructive goals.

Where it applies

  • historical analysis
  • psychological study
  • political discussion

Putting it to work

  • studying history
  • analyzing leaders
  • discussing ideology

Questions to consider

  • Can artistry justify political ambition?
  • How do we judge leaders with creative drives?

Another view

It risks absolving political responsibility by attributing evil to artistry.

More from Albert Speer

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  3. Hitler's dictatorship differed in one fundamental point from all its predecessors in history. His was the first dictatorship in the present period of technical…

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