--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Walter Benjamin knew that the break in…" description: "\"Walter Benjamin knew that the break in tradition and loss of authority which occurred in his lifetime were irreparable, and he concluded that he had to..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0ab/hannah-arendt-610_authority_walter-benjamin-knew-that-the-break-in-t_3157910.jpg" --- # Walter Benjamin knew that the break in tradition and loss… ![“Walter Benjamin knew that the break in tradition and loss of authority which occurred in his lifetime were irreparable, and he concluded that he had to discover new ways of dealing with the past. In this he became a master when he discovered that the transmissibility of the past had been replaced…” quote by Hannah Arendt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0ab/hannah-arendt-610_authority_walter-benjamin-knew-that-the-break-in-t_3157910.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0ab/hannah-arendt-610_authority_walter-benjamin-knew-that-the-break-in-t_3157910.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0ab/hannah-arendt-610_authority_walter-benjamin-knew-that-the-break-in-t_3157910.jpg) > “Walter Benjamin knew that the break in tradition and loss of authority which occurred in his lifetime were irreparable, and he concluded that he had to discover new ways of dealing with the past. In this he became a master when he discovered that the transmissibility of the past had been replaced by the citability and that in place of its authority there had arisen a strange power to settle down, piecemeal, in the present and to deprive it of ‘peace of mind,’ the mindless peace of complacency.” [Hannah Arendt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hannah-arendt/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. He observed that traditional authority collapsed, and the past is now cited rather than lived, fragmenting our sense of continuity. **In simple terms:** Authority fell; past is now quoted, not lived. Key Takeaway Seek authentic engagement with history. Themes history authority memory fragmentation Mood critical thoughtful Type analytical philosophical When to use this quote - academic research - public discourse - personal reflection Key Concepts modernity citational culture Questions to Reflect On - How does citing history affect our present decisions? - Can we restore authority without stagnation? A Different Perspective The citation of past may obscure lived experience. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Authority](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/authority/) [Complacency](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/complacency/) [Lifetime](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/lifetime/) [Loss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/loss/) [Mind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mind/) [Mindless](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mindless/) [Past](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/past/) [Peace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/peace/) [Peace of mind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/peace-of-mind/) [Settling down](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/settling-down/) [Time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time/) [Tradition](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/tradition/) ## Related quotes > [ At any rate, nothing was more characteristic of him \[Walter Benjamin\] in the thirties than the little notebooks with black covers which he always… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hannah-arendt/at-any-rate-nothing-was-more-characteristic-of-him-walter-benjamin-in/) [Hannah Arendt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hannah-arendt/) > [Only by not forgetting the past can we be the master of the future.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ba-jin/only-by-not-forgetting-the-past-can-we-be-the-master-of-the-future/) [Ba Jin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ba-jin/) > [“He was a past master of making himself seem insignificant, of seeming invisible.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elie-wiesel/he-was-a-past-master-of-making-himself-seem-insignificant-of-seeming/) [Elie Wiesel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elie-wiesel/) > [The function off the historian is neither to love the past nor to emancipate himself from the past, but to master and understand it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-hallett-carr/the-function-off-the-historian-is-neither-to-love-the-past-nor-to/) [Edward Hallett Carr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-hallett-carr/) > [“Smartass Disciple: Master, I want to be the better me by forgetting my past. Master of Stupidity: If you just forget it, how would…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/toba-beta/smartass-disciple-master-i-want-to-be-the-better-me-by-forgetting-my/) [Toba Beta](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/toba-beta/) > [“Stop being a slave to your past and you become the master of your future.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-richards/stop-being-a-slave-to-your-past-and-you-become-the-master-of-your/) [Stephen Richards](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-richards/) > [Master your past in the present, or your past will master your future!...](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/master-your-past-in-the-present-or-your-past-will-master-your-future/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“(Mind you, according to Walter Benjamin, the twentieth century’s great philosopher of collecting, browsing and what we’d now call vintage shopping, ‘the non-reading of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simon-reynolds/mind-you-according-to-walter-benjamin-the-twentieth-century-s-great/) [Simon Reynolds](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simon-reynolds/) > [Walter Benjamin has this notion of the angel of history and in a way that's paradoxical itself. 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For us,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hannah-arendt/it-means-first-that-everything-that-appears-in-public-can-be-seen-and/) [Hannah Arendt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hannah-arendt/) > [Without being forgiven, released from the consequences of what we have done, our capacity to act would, as it were, be confined to one…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hannah-arendt/without-being-forgiven-released-from-the-consequences-of-what-we-have/) [Hannah Arendt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hannah-arendt/) > [What really distinguishes this generation in all countries from earlier generations ... is its determination to act, its joy in action, the assurance of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hannah-arendt/what-really-distinguishes-this-generation-in-all-countries-from/) [Hannah Arendt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hannah-arendt/) > [The practice of violence, like all action, changes the world, but the most probable change is a more violent world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hannah-arendt/the-practice-of-violence-like-all-action-changes-the-world-but-the/) [Hannah Arendt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hannah-arendt/) > [“Nationalism always preserved this initial intimate loyalty to the government and never quite lost its function of preserving a precarious balance between nation and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hannah-arendt/nationalism-always-preserved-this-initial-intimate-loyalty-to-the/) [Hannah Arendt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hannah-arendt/) > [There is all the difference in the world between the criminal's avoiding the public eye and the civil disobedience's taking the law into his…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hannah-arendt/there-is-all-the-difference-in-the-world-between-the-criminal-s/) [Hannah Arendt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hannah-arendt/) > [“What imperialists actually wanted was expansion of political power without the foundation of the body politic. Imperialist expansion had been touched off by a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hannah-arendt/what-imperialists-actually-wanted-was-expansion-of-political-power/) [Hannah Arendt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hannah-arendt/) > [the greater the bureaucratization of public life, the greater will be the attraction of violence. 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