Umberto Eco Quotes

"There is a constant in the average American imagination and taste, for which the past must be preserved and celebrated in full-scale authentic copy; a philosophy of immortality as duplication. It dominates the relation with the self, with the past, not infrequently with the present, always with History and, even, with the European tradition."

"The ideology of this America wants to establish reassurance through Imitation. But profit defeats ideology, because the consumers want to be thrilled not only by the guarantee of the Good but also by the shudder of the Bad."

"Nothing is more fleeting than external form, which withers and alters like the flowers of the field at the appearance of autumn"

"There is no great sport in having bullets flying about one in every direction, but I find they have less horror when among them than when in anticipation."