--- title: "23 Ifs Quotes By Umberto Eco" description: "23 Ifs quotes by Umberto Eco. Plus more from Umberto Eco and more Ifs sayings from other authors." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/659/umberto-eco-313_former_if-photography-is-to-be-likened-to-perce_2249323.jpg" --- > [If photography is to be likened to perception, this is not because the former is a natural process but because the latter…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/umberto-eco/if-photography-is-to-be-likened-to-perception-this-is-not-because-the/) [Umberto Eco](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/umberto-eco/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/659/umberto-eco-313_former_if-photography-is-to-be-likened-to-perce_2249323.jpg) > [The more things you know, or pretend to know, the more powerful you are. It doesn't matter if the things are true.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/umberto-eco/the-more-things-you-know-or-pretend-to-know-the-more-powerful-you-are/) [Umberto Eco](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/umberto-eco/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/889/umberto-eco-313_ifs_the-more-things-you-know-or-pretend-to-k_2199017.jpg) > [If two things don't fit, but you believe both of them, thinking that somewhere, hidden, there must be a third thing that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/umberto-eco/if-two-things-don-t-fit-but-you-believe-both-of-them-thinking-that/) [Umberto Eco](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/umberto-eco/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/391/umberto-eco-313_believe_if-two-things-don-t-fit-but-you-believe_715872.jpg) > [If you interact with things in your life, everything is constantly changing. And if nothing changes, you're an idiot.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/umberto-eco/if-you-interact-with-things-in-your-life-everything-is-constantly/) [Umberto Eco](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/umberto-eco/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3cf/umberto-eco-313_idiot_if-you-interact-with-things-in-your-life_1007757.jpg) > [I have a good memory. But I would be interested in memory even if I had a bad memory, because I believe…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/umberto-eco/i-have-a-good-memory-but-i-would-be-interested-in-memory-even-if-i/) [Umberto Eco](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/umberto-eco/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/666/umberto-eco-313_bad-memories_i-have-a-good-memory-but-i-would-be-inte_2905297.jpg) > [In short, Roberto privately concluded, if you would avoid wars, never make treaties of peace.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/umberto-eco/in-short-roberto-privately-concluded-if-you-would-avoid-wars-never/) [Umberto Eco](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/umberto-eco/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/76a/umberto-eco-313_ifs_in-short-roberto-privately-concluded-if_2297600.jpg) > [The Fundamental Principle that governs - or ought to govern -human affairs if we wish to avoid misunderstandings, conflicts, or pointless utopias,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/umberto-eco/the-fundamental-principle-that-governs-or-ought-to-govern-human/) [Umberto Eco](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/umberto-eco/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/717/umberto-eco-313_affair_the-fundamental-principle-that-governs-o_20238.jpg) > [We know that sensory phenomena are transcribed in the photographic emulsion in such a way that even if there is a causal…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/umberto-eco/we-know-that-sensory-phenomena-are-transcribed-in-the-photographic/) [Umberto Eco](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/umberto-eco/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/988/umberto-eco-313_arbitrary_we-know-that-sensory-phenomena-are-trans_863422.jpg) > [Is it worth it to be born if you cannot remember it later? And, technically speaking, had I ever been born? Other…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/umberto-eco/is-it-worth-it-to-be-born-if-you-cannot-remember-it-later-and/) [Umberto Eco](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/umberto-eco/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1b3/umberto-eco-313_age_is-it-worth-it-to-be-born-if-you-cannot_669130.jpg) > [“If culture did not filter, it would be inane — as inane as the formless, boundless Internet is on its own. And…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/umberto-eco/if-culture-did-not-filter-it-would-be-inane-as-inane-as-the-formless/) [Umberto Eco](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/umberto-eco/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b91/umberto-eco-313_boundless_if-culture-did-not-filter-it-would-be-in_2834722.jpg) > [When we traded the results of our fantasies, it seemed to us-and rightly-that we had proceeded by unwarranted associations, by shortcuts so…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/umberto-eco/when-we-traded-the-results-of-our-fantasies-it-seemed-to-us-and/) [Umberto Eco](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/umberto-eco/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/317/umberto-eco-313_accused_when-we-traded-the-results-of-our-fantas_1211637.jpg) > [The art of splitting hairs four ways. This is the department of useless techniques. Mechanical Avunculogratulation, for example, is how to build…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/umberto-eco/the-art-of-splitting-hairs-four-ways-this-is-the-department-of/) [Umberto Eco](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/umberto-eco/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/670/umberto-eco-313_art_the-art-of-splitting-hairs-four-ways-thi_1460283.jpg) > [Today I realize that many recent exercises in "deconstructive reading" read as if inspired by my parody. This is parody's mission: it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/umberto-eco/today-i-realize-that-many-recent-exercises-in-deconstructive-reading/) [Umberto Eco](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/umberto-eco/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c6e/umberto-eco-313_aim_today-i-realize-that-many-recent-exercis_1556111.jpg) > [If Bush had read all the documents about the Russians and British in Afghanistan in the 19th century, he would have not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/umberto-eco/if-bush-had-read-all-the-documents-about-the-russians-and-british-in/) [Umberto Eco](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/umberto-eco/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c54/umberto-eco-313_19th-century_if-bush-had-read-all-the-documents-about_1628523.jpg) > [Stopgaps do belong to the internal economy of the form, since the Whole requires them, even if only in a subordinate position…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/umberto-eco/stopgaps-do-belong-to-the-internal-economy-of-the-form-since-the/) [Umberto Eco](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/umberto-eco/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/39e/umberto-eco-313_accepting_stopgaps-do-belong-to-the-internal-econo_2820510.jpg) > [You must overcome any shyness and have a conversation with the librarian, because he can offer you reliable advice that will save…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/umberto-eco/you-must-overcome-any-shyness-and-have-a-conversation-with-the/) [Umberto Eco](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/umberto-eco/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4eb/umberto-eco-313_advice_you-must-overcome-any-shyness-and-have-a_1121899.jpg) > [There is only one thing that arouses animals more than pleasure, and that is pain. Under torture you are as if under…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/umberto-eco/there-is-only-one-thing-that-arouses-animals-more-than-pleasure-and/) [Umberto Eco](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/umberto-eco/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b24/umberto-eco-313_animal_there-is-only-one-thing-that-arouses-ani_622442.jpg) > [Not long ago, if you wanted to seize political power in a country you had merely to control the army and the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/umberto-eco/not-long-ago-if-you-wanted-to-seize-political-power-in-a-country-you/) [Umberto Eco](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/umberto-eco/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/73b/umberto-eco-313_army_not-long-ago-if-you-wanted-to-seize-poli_950499.jpg) > [There must be a connection between the lust for power and impotentia coeundi. I liked Marx, I was sure that he and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/umberto-eco/there-must-be-a-connection-between-the-lust-for-power-and-impotentia/) [Umberto Eco](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/umberto-eco/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/46f/umberto-eco-313_book_there-must-be-a-connection-between-the-l_2247090.jpg) > [Every thing thinks, but according to its complexity. If this is so, then stones also think...and this stone thinks only I stone,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/umberto-eco/every-thing-thinks-but-according-to-its-complexity-if-this-is-so-then/) [Umberto Eco](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/umberto-eco/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/299/umberto-eco-313_complexity_every-thing-thinks-but-according-to-its_2232422.jpg) > [Beauty is, in some way, boring. Even if its concept changes through the ages... a beautiful object must always follow certain rules.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/umberto-eco/beauty-is-in-some-way-boring-even-if-its-concept-changes-through-the/) [Umberto Eco](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/umberto-eco/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e02/umberto-eco-313_age_beauty-is-in-some-way-boring-even-if-its_804666.jpg) > [ Terrorism \[is\] a biological consequence of the multinationals, just as a day of fever is the reasonable price of an effective vaccine… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/umberto-eco/terrorism-is-a-biological-consequence-of-the-multinationals-just-as-a/) [Umberto Eco](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/umberto-eco/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/669/umberto-eco-313_ascent_terrorism-is-a-biological-consequence-of_2606050.jpg) > [The Void is not being, but not being cannot be, ergo the Void cannot be. The reasoning was sound, because it denied…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/umberto-eco/the-void-is-not-being-but-not-being-cannot-be-ergo-the-void-cannot-be/) [Umberto Eco](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/umberto-eco/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4d8/umberto-eco-313_chimera_the-void-is-not-being-but-not-being-cann_619925.jpg) ## Other authors on Ifs ## More by Umberto Eco > [I think that at a certain age, say fifteen or sixteen, poetry is like masturbation. But later in life good poets burn their early…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/umberto-eco/i-think-that-at-a-certain-age-say-fifteen-or-sixteen-poetry-is-like/) [Umberto Eco](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/umberto-eco/) > [Followers of the occult believe in only what they already know, and in those things that confirm what they have already learned.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/umberto-eco/followers-of-the-occult-believe-in-only-what-they-already-know-and-in/) [Umberto Eco](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/umberto-eco/) > [“This has nothing to do with realism (even if it explains also realism). A completely real world can be constructed, in which asses fly…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/umberto-eco/this-has-nothing-to-do-with-realism-even-if-it-explains-also-realism/) [Umberto Eco](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/umberto-eco/) > [“…there’s nothing in this world that demands more caution than the truth. To tell the truth is like leeching one’s own heart...”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/umberto-eco/there-s-nothing-in-this-world-that-demands-more-caution-than-the/) [Umberto Eco](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/umberto-eco/) > [The book is like the spoon, scissors, the hammer, the wheel. Once invented, it cannot be improved. You cannot make a spoon that is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/umberto-eco/the-book-is-like-the-spoon-scissors-the-hammer-the-wheel-once/) [Umberto Eco](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/umberto-eco/) > [“No algorithm exists for the metaphor, nor can a metaphor be produced by means of a computer’s precise instructions, no matter what the volume…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/umberto-eco/no-algorithm-exists-for-the-metaphor-nor-can-a-metaphor-be-produced/) [Umberto Eco](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/umberto-eco/) > [With all of its defects, the global market makes war less likely, even between the USA and China.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/umberto-eco/with-all-of-its-defects-the-global-market-makes-war-less-likely-even/) [Umberto Eco](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/umberto-eco/) > [The Fundamental Principle that governs - or ought to govern -human affairs if we wish to avoid misunderstandings, conflicts, or pointless utopias, is negotiation.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/umberto-eco/the-fundamental-principle-that-governs-or-ought-to-govern-human/) [Umberto Eco](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/umberto-eco/) > [Any fact becomes important when it's connected to another.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/umberto-eco/any-fact-becomes-important-when-it-s-connected-to-another/) [Umberto Eco](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/umberto-eco/) > [American coffee can be a pale solution served at a temperature of 100 degrees centigrade in plastic thermos cups, usually obligatory in railroad stations…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/umberto-eco/american-coffee-can-be-a-pale-solution-served-at-a-temperature-of-100/) [Umberto Eco](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/umberto-eco/) > [Listening doesn't mean trying to understand. Anything, however trifling, may be of use one day. What matters is to know something that others don't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/umberto-eco/listening-doesn-t-mean-trying-to-understand-anything-however-trifling/) [Umberto Eco](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/umberto-eco/) > [They say that a cat, if it falls from a window and hits its nose, can lose its sense of smell and then, because…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/umberto-eco/they-say-that-a-cat-if-it-falls-from-a-window-and-hits-its-nose-can/) [Umberto Eco](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/umberto-eco/) > [There are magic moments, involving great physical fatigue and intense motor excitement, that produce visions of people known in the past. As I learned…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/umberto-eco/there-are-magic-moments-involving-great-physical-fatigue-and-intense/) [Umberto Eco](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/umberto-eco/) > [All poets write bad poetry. Bad poets publish them, good poets burn them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/umberto-eco/all-poets-write-bad-poetry-bad-poets-publish-them-good-poets-burn-them/) [Umberto Eco](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/umberto-eco/) > [There are four kinds of people in this world: cretins, fools, morons, and lunatics.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/umberto-eco/there-are-four-kinds-of-people-in-this-world-cretins-fools-morons-and/) [Umberto Eco](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/umberto-eco/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "ItemList", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ifs/umberto-eco/#itemlist", "name": "23 Ifs Quotes By Umberto Eco", "numberOfItems": 23, "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "If photography is to be likened to perception, this is not because the former is a natural process but because the latter is also coded.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Umberto Eco" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/umberto-eco/if-photography-is-to-be-likened-to-perception-this-is-not-because-the/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/659/umberto-eco-313_former_if-photography-is-to-be-likened-to-perce_2249323.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/659/umberto-eco-313_former_if-photography-is-to-be-likened-to-perce_2249323.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/659/umberto-eco-313_former_if-photography-is-to-be-likened-to-perce_2249323.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“If photography is to be likened to perception, this is not because the former is a natural process but…” — Umberto Eco", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "The more things you know, or pretend to know, the more powerful you are. 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And if nothing changes, you're an idiot.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Umberto Eco" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/umberto-eco/if-you-interact-with-things-in-your-life-everything-is-constantly/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3cf/umberto-eco-313_idiot_if-you-interact-with-things-in-your-life_1007757.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3cf/umberto-eco-313_idiot_if-you-interact-with-things-in-your-life_1007757.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3cf/umberto-eco-313_idiot_if-you-interact-with-things-in-your-life_1007757.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“If you interact with things in your life, everything is constantly changing. And if nothing changes, you're…” — Umberto Eco", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 5, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "I have a good memory. But I would be interested in memory even if I had a bad memory, because I believe that memory is our soul. If we lose our memory completely, we are without a soul.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Umberto Eco" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/umberto-eco/i-have-a-good-memory-but-i-would-be-interested-in-memory-even-if-i/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/666/umberto-eco-313_bad-memories_i-have-a-good-memory-but-i-would-be-inte_2905297.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/666/umberto-eco-313_bad-memories_i-have-a-good-memory-but-i-would-be-inte_2905297.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/666/umberto-eco-313_bad-memories_i-have-a-good-memory-but-i-would-be-inte_2905297.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“I have a good memory. But I would be interested in memory even if I had a bad memory, because I believe that…” — Umberto Eco", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 6, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "In short, Roberto privately concluded, if you would avoid wars, never make treaties of peace.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Umberto Eco" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/umberto-eco/in-short-roberto-privately-concluded-if-you-would-avoid-wars-never/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/76a/umberto-eco-313_ifs_in-short-roberto-privately-concluded-if_2297600.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/76a/umberto-eco-313_ifs_in-short-roberto-privately-concluded-if_2297600.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/76a/umberto-eco-313_ifs_in-short-roberto-privately-concluded-if_2297600.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“In short, Roberto privately concluded, if you would avoid wars, never make treaties of peace.” — Umberto Eco", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 7, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "The Fundamental Principle that governs - or ought to govern -human affairs if we wish to avoid misunderstandings, conflicts, or pointless utopias, is negotiation.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Umberto Eco" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/umberto-eco/the-fundamental-principle-that-governs-or-ought-to-govern-human/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/717/umberto-eco-313_affair_the-fundamental-principle-that-governs-o_20238.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/717/umberto-eco-313_affair_the-fundamental-principle-that-governs-o_20238.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/717/umberto-eco-313_affair_the-fundamental-principle-that-governs-o_20238.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“The Fundamental Principle that governs - or ought to govern -human affairs if we wish to avoid…” — Umberto Eco", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 8, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "We know that sensory phenomena are transcribed in the photographic emulsion in such a way that even if there is a causal link with the real phenomena, the graphic images can be considered as wholly arbitrary with respect to these phenomena.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Umberto Eco" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/umberto-eco/we-know-that-sensory-phenomena-are-transcribed-in-the-photographic/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/988/umberto-eco-313_arbitrary_we-know-that-sensory-phenomena-are-trans_863422.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/988/umberto-eco-313_arbitrary_we-know-that-sensory-phenomena-are-trans_863422.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/988/umberto-eco-313_arbitrary_we-know-that-sensory-phenomena-are-trans_863422.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“We know that sensory phenomena are transcribed in the photographic emulsion in such a way that even if there…” — Umberto Eco", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 9, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Is it worth it to be born if you cannot remember it later? And, technically speaking, had I ever been born? Other people, of course, said that I was. As far as I know, I was born in late April, at sixty years of age, in a hospital room.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Umberto Eco" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/umberto-eco/is-it-worth-it-to-be-born-if-you-cannot-remember-it-later-and/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1b3/umberto-eco-313_age_is-it-worth-it-to-be-born-if-you-cannot_669130.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1b3/umberto-eco-313_age_is-it-worth-it-to-be-born-if-you-cannot_669130.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1b3/umberto-eco-313_age_is-it-worth-it-to-be-born-if-you-cannot_669130.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Is it worth it to be born if you cannot remember it later? And, technically speaking, had I ever been born?…” — Umberto Eco", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 10, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“If culture did not filter, it would be inane — as inane as the formless, boundless Internet is on its own. And if we all possessed the boundless knowledge of the Web, we would be idiots! Culture is an instrument for making a hierarchical system of intellectual labor.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Umberto Eco" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/umberto-eco/if-culture-did-not-filter-it-would-be-inane-as-inane-as-the-formless/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b91/umberto-eco-313_boundless_if-culture-did-not-filter-it-would-be-in_2834722.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b91/umberto-eco-313_boundless_if-culture-did-not-filter-it-would-be-in_2834722.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b91/umberto-eco-313_boundless_if-culture-did-not-filter-it-would-be-in_2834722.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“If culture did not filter, it would be inane — as inane as the formless, boundless Internet is on its own…” — Umberto Eco", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 11, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "When we traded the results of our fantasies, it seemed to us-and rightly-that we had proceeded by unwarranted associations, by shortcuts so extraordinary that, if anyone had accused us of really believing them, we would have been ashamed.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Umberto Eco" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/umberto-eco/when-we-traded-the-results-of-our-fantasies-it-seemed-to-us-and/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/317/umberto-eco-313_accused_when-we-traded-the-results-of-our-fantas_1211637.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/317/umberto-eco-313_accused_when-we-traded-the-results-of-our-fantas_1211637.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/317/umberto-eco-313_accused_when-we-traded-the-results-of-our-fantas_1211637.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“When we traded the results of our fantasies, it seemed to us-and rightly-that we had proceeded by…” — Umberto Eco", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 12, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "The art of splitting hairs four ways. This is the department of useless techniques. Mechanical Avunculogratulation, for example, is how to build machines for greeting uncles. We're not sure, though, if Pylocatabasis belongs, since it's the art of being saved by a hair. Somehow that doesn't seem completely useless.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Umberto Eco" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/umberto-eco/the-art-of-splitting-hairs-four-ways-this-is-the-department-of/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/670/umberto-eco-313_art_the-art-of-splitting-hairs-four-ways-thi_1460283.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/670/umberto-eco-313_art_the-art-of-splitting-hairs-four-ways-thi_1460283.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/670/umberto-eco-313_art_the-art-of-splitting-hairs-four-ways-thi_1460283.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“The art of splitting hairs four ways. This is the department of useless techniques. Mechanical…” — Umberto Eco", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 13, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Today I realize that many recent exercises in \"deconstructive reading\" read as if inspired by my parody. This is parody's mission: it must never be afraid of going too far. If its aim is true, it simply heralds what others will later produce, unblushing, with impassive and assertive gravity.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Umberto Eco" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/umberto-eco/today-i-realize-that-many-recent-exercises-in-deconstructive-reading/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c6e/umberto-eco-313_aim_today-i-realize-that-many-recent-exercis_1556111.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c6e/umberto-eco-313_aim_today-i-realize-that-many-recent-exercis_1556111.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c6e/umberto-eco-313_aim_today-i-realize-that-many-recent-exercis_1556111.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Today I realize that many recent exercises in \"deconstructive reading\" read as if inspired by my parody…” — Umberto Eco", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 14, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "If Bush had read all the documents about the Russians and British in Afghanistan in the 19th century, he would have not done what he did in the 21st. He would have understood how difficult it was to control this territory. He probably didn't read them.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Umberto Eco" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/umberto-eco/if-bush-had-read-all-the-documents-about-the-russians-and-british-in/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c54/umberto-eco-313_19th-century_if-bush-had-read-all-the-documents-about_1628523.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c54/umberto-eco-313_19th-century_if-bush-had-read-all-the-documents-about_1628523.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c54/umberto-eco-313_19th-century_if-bush-had-read-all-the-documents-about_1628523.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“If Bush had read all the documents about the Russians and British in Afghanistan in the 19th century, he…” — Umberto Eco", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 15, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Stopgaps do belong to the internal economy of the form, since the Whole requires them, even if only in a subordinate position ... The stopgap Luigi Paryson's 'zeppa' accepts its own banality, because without the speed that the banal allows up, it would slow up a passage that is crucial for the outcome of the work and its interpretation.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Umberto Eco" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/umberto-eco/stopgaps-do-belong-to-the-internal-economy-of-the-form-since-the/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/39e/umberto-eco-313_accepting_stopgaps-do-belong-to-the-internal-econo_2820510.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/39e/umberto-eco-313_accepting_stopgaps-do-belong-to-the-internal-econo_2820510.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/39e/umberto-eco-313_accepting_stopgaps-do-belong-to-the-internal-econo_2820510.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Stopgaps do belong to the internal economy of the form, since the Whole requires them, even if only in a…” — Umberto Eco", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 16, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "You must overcome any shyness and have a conversation with the librarian, because he can offer you reliable advice that will save you much time. You must consider that the librarian (if not overworked or neurotic) is happy when he can demonstrate two things: the quality of his memory and erudition and the richness of his library, especially if it is small. The more isolated and disregarded the library, the more the librarian is consumed with sorrow for its underestimation. A person who asks for help makes the librarian happy.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Umberto Eco" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/umberto-eco/you-must-overcome-any-shyness-and-have-a-conversation-with-the/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4eb/umberto-eco-313_advice_you-must-overcome-any-shyness-and-have-a_1121899.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4eb/umberto-eco-313_advice_you-must-overcome-any-shyness-and-have-a_1121899.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4eb/umberto-eco-313_advice_you-must-overcome-any-shyness-and-have-a_1121899.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“You must overcome any shyness and have a conversation with the librarian, because he can offer you reliable…” — Umberto Eco", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 17, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "There is only one thing that arouses animals more than pleasure, and that is pain. Under torture you are as if under the dominion of those grasses that produce visions. Everything you have heard told, everything you have read returns to your mind, as if you were being transported, not toward heaven, but toward hell. Under torture you say not only what the inquisitor wants, but also what you imagine might please him, because a bond (this, truly, diabolical) is established between you and him.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Umberto Eco" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/umberto-eco/there-is-only-one-thing-that-arouses-animals-more-than-pleasure-and/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b24/umberto-eco-313_animal_there-is-only-one-thing-that-arouses-ani_622442.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b24/umberto-eco-313_animal_there-is-only-one-thing-that-arouses-ani_622442.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b24/umberto-eco-313_animal_there-is-only-one-thing-that-arouses-ani_622442.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“There is only one thing that arouses animals more than pleasure, and that is pain. Under torture you are as…” — Umberto Eco", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 18, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Not long ago, if you wanted to seize political power in a country you had merely to control the army and the police. Today it is only in the most backward countries that fascist generals, in carrying out a coup d'état, still use tanks. If a country has reached a high degree of industrialization the whole scene changes… Today a country belongs to the person who controls communications.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Umberto Eco" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/umberto-eco/not-long-ago-if-you-wanted-to-seize-political-power-in-a-country-you/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/73b/umberto-eco-313_army_not-long-ago-if-you-wanted-to-seize-poli_950499.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/73b/umberto-eco-313_army_not-long-ago-if-you-wanted-to-seize-poli_950499.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/73b/umberto-eco-313_army_not-long-ago-if-you-wanted-to-seize-poli_950499.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Not long ago, if you wanted to seize political power in a country you had merely to control the army and the…” — Umberto Eco", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 19, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "There must be a connection between the lust for power and impotentia coeundi. I liked Marx, I was sure that he and his Jenny had made love merrily. You can feel it in the easy pace of his prose and in his humor. On the other hand, I remember remarking one day in the corridors of the university that if you screwed Krupskaya all the time, you'd end up writing a lousy book like Materialism and Empiriocriticism.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Umberto Eco" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/umberto-eco/there-must-be-a-connection-between-the-lust-for-power-and-impotentia/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/46f/umberto-eco-313_book_there-must-be-a-connection-between-the-l_2247090.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/46f/umberto-eco-313_book_there-must-be-a-connection-between-the-l_2247090.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/46f/umberto-eco-313_book_there-must-be-a-connection-between-the-l_2247090.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“There must be a connection between the lust for power and impotentia coeundi. I liked Marx, I was sure that…” — Umberto Eco", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 20, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Every thing thinks, but according to its complexity. If this is so, then stones also think...and this stone thinks only I stone, I stone, I stone. But perhaps it cannot even say I. It thinks: Stone, stone, stone... God enjoys being All, as this stone enjoys being almost nothing, but since it knows no other way of being, it is pleased with its own way, eternally satisfied with itself.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Umberto Eco" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/umberto-eco/every-thing-thinks-but-according-to-its-complexity-if-this-is-so-then/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/299/umberto-eco-313_complexity_every-thing-thinks-but-according-to-its_2232422.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/299/umberto-eco-313_complexity_every-thing-thinks-but-according-to-its_2232422.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/299/umberto-eco-313_complexity_every-thing-thinks-but-according-to-its_2232422.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Every thing thinks, but according to its complexity. If this is so, then stones also think...and this stone…” — Umberto Eco", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 21, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Beauty is, in some way, boring. Even if its concept changes through the ages... a beautiful object must always follow certain rules. A beautiful nose shouldn't be longer than that or shorter than that, on the contrary, an ugly nose can be as long as the one of Pinocchio, or as big as the trunk of an elephant, or like the beak of an eagle, and so ugliness is unpredictable, and offers an infinite range of possibility. Beauty is finite, ugliness is infinite like God.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Umberto Eco" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/umberto-eco/beauty-is-in-some-way-boring-even-if-its-concept-changes-through-the/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e02/umberto-eco-313_age_beauty-is-in-some-way-boring-even-if-its_804666.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e02/umberto-eco-313_age_beauty-is-in-some-way-boring-even-if-its_804666.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e02/umberto-eco-313_age_beauty-is-in-some-way-boring-even-if-its_804666.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Beauty is, in some way, boring. Even if its concept changes through the ages... a beautiful object must…” — Umberto Eco", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 22, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Terrorism [is] a biological consequence of the multinationals, just as a day of fever is the reasonable price of an effective vaccine . . . The conflict is between great powers, not between demons and heroes. Unhappily, therefore, is the nation that finds the \"heroes\" underfoot, especially if they still think in religious terms and involve the population in their bloody ascent to an uninhabited paradise.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Umberto Eco" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/umberto-eco/terrorism-is-a-biological-consequence-of-the-multinationals-just-as-a/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/669/umberto-eco-313_ascent_terrorism-is-a-biological-consequence-of_2606050.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/669/umberto-eco-313_ascent_terrorism-is-a-biological-consequence-of_2606050.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/669/umberto-eco-313_ascent_terrorism-is-a-biological-consequence-of_2606050.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Terrorism [is] a biological consequence of the multinationals, just as a day of fever is the reasonable…” — Umberto Eco", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 23, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "The Void is not being, but not being cannot be, ergo the Void cannot be. The reasoning was sound, because it denied the Void while granting that it could be conceived. In fact, we can quite easily conceive things that do not exist. Can a chimera, buzzing in the Void, devour second intentions? No, because chimeras do not exist, in the Void no buzzing can be heard, and intentions are mental things - an intended pear does not nourish us. And yet I can think of a chimera even if it is chimerical, namely, if it is not. And the same with the Void.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Umberto Eco" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/umberto-eco/the-void-is-not-being-but-not-being-cannot-be-ergo-the-void-cannot-be/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4d8/umberto-eco-313_chimera_the-void-is-not-being-but-not-being-cann_619925.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4d8/umberto-eco-313_chimera_the-void-is-not-being-but-not-being-cann_619925.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4d8/umberto-eco-313_chimera_the-void-is-not-being-but-not-being-cann_619925.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“The Void is not being, but not being cannot be, ergo the Void cannot be. The reasoning was sound, because it…” — Umberto Eco", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } } ] }, { "@type": "CollectionPage", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ifs/umberto-eco/#webpage", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ifs/umberto-eco/", "name": "Ifs Quotes by Umberto Eco", "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "mainEntity": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ifs/umberto-eco/#itemlist" }, "primaryImageOfPage": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/659/umberto-eco-313_former_if-photography-is-to-be-likened-to-perce_2249323.jpg" }, "description": "23 Ifs quotes by Umberto Eco. 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