--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: You can die from kitsch. And we're close…" description: "\"“You can die from kitsch. And we're close to it.”\" — John Lamb Lash" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/439/john-lamb-lash-60255_bad-art_you-can-die-from-kitsch-and-we-re-close_2501238.png" --- # You can die from kitsch. And we're close to it. ![“You can die from kitsch. And we're close to it.” quote by John Lamb Lash](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/439/john-lamb-lash-60255_bad-art_you-can-die-from-kitsch-and-we-re-close_2501238.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/439/john-lamb-lash-60255_bad-art_you-can-die-from-kitsch-and-we-re-close_2501238.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/439/john-lamb-lash-60255_bad-art_you-can-die-from-kitsch-and-we-re-close_2501238.png) > ““You can die from kitsch. And we're close to it.”” [John Lamb Lash](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-lamb-lash/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Excessively sentimental or superficial art can be spiritually harmful, and society is approaching that danger. **In simple terms:** Kitsch can be toxic. Key Takeaway Avoid shallow aesthetics. Themes culture art spirituality Mood cautious critical Type cautionary analytical When to use this quote - media consumption - art criticism - personal taste - spiritual health Key Concepts aesthetic decay cultural criticism Questions to Reflect On - What defines kitsch for you? - How can you seek depth over style? A Different Perspective Not all kitsch is harmful; context matters. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Bad-art](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bad-art-13974/) [Close](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/close/) [Death](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/death/) [Die Kitsch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/die-kitsch-1063222/) [Dying](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dying/) [Kitsch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/kitsch/) [Kitsch Close](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/kitsch-close-1063221/) ## Related quotes > [“It was a tribute to Raphael that lesser artists wanted to copy his work, but this… this was a travesty. The fresco consisted of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kelsey-brickl/it-was-a-tribute-to-raphael-that-lesser-artists-wanted-to-copy-his/) [Kelsey Brickl](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kelsey-brickl/) > [“As an artist she finds Dick's work hopelessly naive, yet she is a lover of certain kinds of bad art, art which offers a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-kraus/as-an-artist-she-finds-dick-s-work-hopelessly-naive-yet-she-is-a/) [Chris Kraus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-kraus/) > [Her kitsch was the image of home, all peace, quiet, and harmony, and ruled by a loving mother and a wise father. It was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/milan-kundera/her-kitsch-was-the-image-of-home-all-peace-quiet-and-harmony-and/) [Milan Kundera](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/milan-kundera/) > [A real Rembrandt hung in a millionaire's home elevator would undoubtedly make for kitsch.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matei-calinescu/a-real-rembrandt-hung-in-a-millionaire-s-home-elevator-would/) [Matei Calinescu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matei-calinescu/) > [A kitsch novel describes the world not as it really is, but as it is hoped and feared to be.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hermann-broch/a-kitsch-novel-describes-the-world-not-as-it-really-is-but-as-it-is/) [Hermann Broch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hermann-broch/) > [Kitsch is very important to me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oneohtrix-point-never/kitsch-is-very-important-to-me/) [Oneohtrix Point Never](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oneohtrix-point-never/) > [Modern art was born from a desire to destroy kitsch.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roger-scruton/modern-art-was-born-from-a-desire-to-destroy-kitsch/) [Roger Scruton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roger-scruton/) > [I did my homework and didn't go out much, and had a very highly developed kitsch fantasy life where I dreamed of being a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emily-mortimer/i-did-my-homework-and-didn-t-go-out-much-and-had-a-very-highly/) [Emily Mortimer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emily-mortimer/) > [The peasant finds no "natural" urgency within himself that will drive him toward Picasso in spite of all difficulties. In the end the peasant…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clement-greenberg/the-peasant-finds-no-natural-urgency-within-himself-that-will-drive/) [Clement Greenberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clement-greenberg/) > [If you speak of beauty, you are at once suspected of...kitsch.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/balthus/if-you-speak-of-beauty-you-are-at-once-suspected-of-kitsch/) [Balthus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/balthus/) > [Those who were still able to write beautiful melodies were kitsch composers like Tchaikovsky. Tchaikovsky approaches true art not in his numerous beautiful melodies,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/slavoj-i-ek/those-who-were-still-able-to-write-beautiful-melodies-were-kitsch/) [Slavoj Žižek](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/slavoj-i-ek/) > [Architectural kitsch is most common in the commercial pop vernacular - typified by the Big Duck of 1931 in Flanders, New York, a Long…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-filler/architectural-kitsch-is-most-common-in-the-commercial-pop-vernacular/) [Martin Filler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-filler/) > [If you can't take the kitsch, get out of the kitchen.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-jencks/if-you-can-t-take-the-kitsch-get-out-of-the-kitchen/) [Charles Jencks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-jencks/) > [Salvador Dali has been called kitsch, but, although some of this work may be grotesque, its brazenly self-conscious bad taste saves it from being…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/denis-dutton/salvador-dali-has-been-called-kitsch-but-although-some-of-this-work/) [Denis Dutton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/denis-dutton/) > [Kitsch of course only comes into existence when we recognize how and why it works.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-bayley/kitsch-of-course-only-comes-into-existence-when-we-recognize-how-and/) [John Bayley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-bayley/) ## More by John Lamb Lash > [Empathy for the plight of the Goddess may be essential in seeing how to face our own plight on Earth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-lamb-lash/empathy-for-the-plight-of-the-goddess-may-be-essential-in-seeing-how/) [John Lamb Lash](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-lamb-lash/) > [The God who hates trees is the founding father of patriarchy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-lamb-lash/the-god-who-hates-trees-is-the-founding-father-of-patriarchy/) [John Lamb Lash](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-lamb-lash/) > [The most effective way to defeat patriarchy is to defy and disown its self-legitimating narrative.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-lamb-lash/the-most-effective-way-to-defeat-patriarchy-is-to-defy-and-disown-its/) [John Lamb Lash](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-lamb-lash/) > [Monotheism begins with a god who hates trees.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-lamb-lash/monotheism-begins-with-a-god-who-hates-trees/) [John Lamb Lash](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-lamb-lash/) [Explore all 5 John Lamb Lash quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-lamb-lash/) ## More Bad-art quotes > [“As an artist she finds Dick's work hopelessly naive, yet she is a lover of certain kinds of bad art, art which offers a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-kraus/as-an-artist-she-finds-dick-s-work-hopelessly-naive-yet-she-is-a/) [Chris Kraus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-kraus/) > [“It was a tribute to Raphael that lesser artists wanted to copy his work, but this… this was a travesty. 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