Skip to content
quotesby

About this quote

What does it mean?
Modernism can be a shallow obsession with being current.
In plain terms
People who follow trends blindly are just snobs.
What can you take from it?
Don't confuse novelty with quality.

Where it applies

  • cultural trends
  • art criticism
  • consumerism

Putting it to work

  • ignore fleeting trends
  • focus on substance
  • be critical

Questions to consider

  • Is new always better?
  • Why do we chase trends?

Another view

New ideas often bring genuine value.

More from Gilbert Keith Chesterton

  1. I cannot understand the people who take literature seriously; but I can love them, and I do. Out of my love I warn them to keep clear of this book. It is a col…

    Permalink to quote #111
  2. It is not only possible to say a great deal in praise of play; it is really possible to say the highest things in praise of it. It might reasonably be maintain…

    Permalink to quote #113
  3. A man looking at a hippopotamus may sometimes be tempted to regard a hippopotamus as an enormous mistake; but he is also bound to confess that a fortunate infe…

    Permalink to quote #110

Related quotes

  1. You are never to lose sight of nature; the instant you do, you are all abroad, at the mercy of every gust of fashion, without knowing or seeing the point to wh…

    Joshua ReynoldsJoshua Reynolds quote #15
  2. There's so much plastic in this culture that vinyl leopard skin is becoming an endangered synthetic.

    Lily TomlinLily Tomlin quote #3
  3. I think punk rock is dead, and has been for a long time. Any time people can start using a word to describe how people dress as opposed to what music is like s…

    Aaron NorthAaron North quote #4