from Yevgeny Zamyatin (two non-contradictory statements)

[rushthatspeaks]

The development of art is subject to the dialectic method. Art functions pyramidally: all new achievements are based on the utilization of everything that has been accumulated below, at the foundations of the pyramid. Revolutions do not occur here; this field, more than any other, is governed by evolution. And we must know what has been done before us in the field of verbal art. This does not mean that you must follow in trodden paths: you must contribute something of your own. A work of art is of value only when it is original, both in content and in form. But in order to leap upward, it is necessary to take off from the ground. It is essential that there be a ground. (The Psychology of Creative Work, 1919-1920)

Revolution is everywhere, in everything. It is infinite. There is no final revolution, no final number. The social revolution is only one of an infinite number of numbers: the law of revolution is not a social law, but an immeasurably greater one. It is a cosmic, universal law — like the laws of the conservation of energy and of the dissipation of energy (entropy). (On Literature, Revolution, Entropy, and Other Matters, 1923)

Comments

[the-sundog.livejournal.com]

Zamyatin has to be one of the most uplifting philosophers I've ever encountered. I think Thrud used to refer to him as The Philosopher of Light.

[rushthatspeaks.livejournal.com]

She still does. She also used to run a fansite about him, but I think it fell through the cracks.