Consumption Quote by Italo Calvino
““Hence that state of mind at once gloomy and euphoric which one associates with carrying out the rubbish; and the way we see the men who go by emptying the bins into their pulping truck not just as emissaries for the chthonic world, gravediggers of the inanimate, Charons of a beyond of greasy paper and rusty tin, but as angels too, as indispensable mediators between ourselves and the heaven of ideas in which we undeservedly soar (or imagine we soar) and which can exist only in so far as we are not overwhelmed by the waste which every act of living incessantly produces (even the act of thinking: these thoughts of mine that you are reading being all that been salvaged from the scores of sheets of paper now crumpled up in the bin), heralds of a possible salvation beyond the destruction inherent in all production and consumption, liberators from the weight of time’s detritus, ponderous dark angels of lightness and clarity.””
About This Quote
Source Essay: “The Waste of Thought” in *Six Memos for the Next Millennium*, 1988
He likens waste collectors to mediators between mundane reality and lofty ideas, suggesting that salvaging discarded material mirrors the creative process.
In simple terms: Seeing waste as a bridge to imagination.
Key Takeaway
Find value in what’s discarded.
Themes
creativity
environment
philosophy
Mood
thoughtful
analytical
Type
philosophical
inspirational
When to use this quote
- artistic creation
- environmental activism
- writing process
Key Concepts
waste as metaphor
mediators
transformation
Questions to Reflect On
- What “waste” in your life can become inspiration?
- How do mundane tasks fuel creativity?
A Different Perspective
Risk of romanticizing labor and ignoring its hardships.
![“[The flush toilet is] a wonderful waste disposal device. But I think that it's so good it doesn't smell, we can put it in our house, we can lock it behind a door and I think we've locked it out of conversation too.” quote by Suman Rai](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/3e3/suman-rai-785_facts_the-flush-toilet-is-a-wonderful-waste-di_1726165.jpg)
