The romantic mode is primarily inspirational, imaginative, creative, intuitive. Feelings rather than facts predominate. 'Art' when it is opposed to 'Science' is often romantic. It does not proceed by reason or by laws. It proceeds by feeling, intuition and esthetic conscience. In the northern European cultures the romantic mode is usually associated with femininity, but this is certainly not a necessary association. The classic mode, by contrast, proceeds by reason and by laws... which are themselves underlying forms of thought and behavior. In the European cultures it is primarily a masculine mode and the fields of science, law and medicine are unattractive to women largely for this reason. Although motorcycle riding is romantic, motorcycle maintenance is purely classic.
About this quote
- What does it mean?
- The romantic mode relies on feeling and intuition, often linked to femininity, while the classic mode relies on reason and law, traditionally seen as masculine; riding is romantic, maintenance is classic.
- In plain terms
- Romance is feeling‑based; classic is reason‑based; riding is romantic, fixing is classic.
- What can you take from it?
- Recognize the different approaches and their cultural stereotypes.
Where it applies
Putting it to work
Questions to consider
- Can one blend romantic and classic modes?
- How do stereotypes affect career choices?
Another view
Assigning gender to modes oversimplifies individual preferences.
More from Robert M. Pirsig
You look at where you're going and where you are and it never makes sense, but then you look back at where you've been and a pattern seems to emerge. And if yo…
Permalink to quote #9 In recent times we have seen a huge split develop between a classic culture and a romantic counterculture... two worlds growingly alienated and hateful toward …
Permalink to quote #11 The world of underlying form is an unusual object of discussion because it is actually a mode of discussion itself. You discuss things in terms of their immedi…
Permalink to quote #8
Related quotes
O amor espiritualiza o homem - e materializa a mulher.
Jose Maria Eca de QueirozJose Maria Eca de Queiroz quote #2 There is only one woman in the world. One woman, with many faces.
Nikos KazantzakisNikos Kazantzakis quote #2 I don't mind praying to the eternal Father, but I must be the only man in the country afflicted with an eternal mother.
King of England Edward VIIKing of England Edward VII quote #1