--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: If one defends the bourgeois, philistine…" description: "\"If one defends the bourgeois, philistine virtues, one does not defend them merely from the demonism or bohemianism of the artist but from the present b..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/07e/lionel-trilling-12210_art_if-one-defends-the-bourgeois-philistine_2267515.png" --- # If one defends the bourgeois, philistine virtues, one does… ![“If one defends the bourgeois, philistine virtues, one does not defend them merely from the demonism or bohemianism of the artist but from the present bourgeoisie itself.” quote by Lionel Trilling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/07e/lionel-trilling-12210_art_if-one-defends-the-bourgeois-philistine_2267515.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/07e/lionel-trilling-12210_art_if-one-defends-the-bourgeois-philistine_2267515.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/07e/lionel-trilling-12210_art_if-one-defends-the-bourgeois-philistine_2267515.png) > “If one defends the bourgeois, philistine virtues, one does not defend them merely from the demonism or bohemianism of the artist but from the present bourgeoisie itself.” [Lionel Trilling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lionel-trilling/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Defending bourgeois values means opposing both artistic rebellion and the current ruling class. **In simple terms:** Support for middle‑class norms challenges both artists and the elite. Key Takeaway Question the true source of your defense. Themes culture politics class art Mood critical analytical Type philosophical political When to use this quote - political discourse - art criticism - education - media analysis Key Concepts critical theory social critique Questions to Reflect On - Why do you defend certain values? - What does “present bourgeoisie” represent to you? A Different Perspective The quote may overgeneralize complex social dynamics. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Art](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/art/) [Artist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/artist/) [Bourgeois](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bourgeois/) [Bourgeois Philistine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bourgeois-philistine-5242135/) [Bourgeoisie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bourgeoisie/) [Defends Bourgeois](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/defends-bourgeois-5242134/) [Doe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/doe/) [Ifs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ifs/) [Philistine Virtues](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/philistine-virtues-5242137/) [Philistines](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/philistines/) [Present Bourgeoisie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/present-bourgeoisie-5242136/) [Virtue](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/virtue/) ## Related quotes > [Any test that turns on what is offensive to the community's standards is too loose, too capricious, too destructive of freedom of expression to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-o-douglas/any-test-that-turns-on-what-is-offensive-to-the-community-s-standards/) [William O. Douglas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-o-douglas/) > [There is nothing more vulgar than a petty bourgeois life with its halfpence, its victuals, its futile talk, and its useless conventional virtue.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anton-chekhov/there-is-nothing-more-vulgar-than-a-petty-bourgeois-life-with-its/) [Anton Chekhov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anton-chekhov/) > [Social science and humanities ... have a mutual contempt for one another, the former looking down on the latter as unscientific, the latter regarding…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/allan-bloom/social-science-and-humanities-have-a-mutual-contempt-for-one-another/) [Allan Bloom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/allan-bloom/) > [Prig and philistine, Ph.D. and C.P.A., despot of English 218c and big shot of the Kiwanis Club-how much, at bottom, they both hate Art,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/louis-kronenberger/prig-and-philistine-ph-d-and-c-p-a-despot-of-english-218c-and-big/) [Louis Kronenberger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/louis-kronenberger/) > [Why can't the black man have a God? What's so wrong when a black man says his God will protect him form his white…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/malcolm-x/why-can-t-the-black-man-have-a-god-what-s-so-wrong-when-a-black-man/) [Malcolm X](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/malcolm-x/) > [Philistine - a word which I understand properly to denote indifference to the higher intellectual interests. The word may also be defined, however, as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leslie-stephen/philistine-a-word-which-i-understand-properly-to-denote-indifference/) [Leslie Stephen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leslie-stephen/) > [No difference exists between American and European manners. 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The real life of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-sontag/al-forms-of-consensus-about-great-books-and-perennial-problems-once/) [Susan Sontag](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-sontag/) ## More by Lionel Trilling > [Our culture peculiarly honors the act of blaming, which it takes as the sign of virtue and intellect.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lionel-trilling/our-culture-peculiarly-honors-the-act-of-blaming-which-it-takes-as/) [Lionel Trilling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lionel-trilling/) > [The definitions of humanism are many, but let us here take it to be the attitude of those men who think it an advantage…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lionel-trilling/the-definitions-of-humanism-are-many-but-let-us-here-take-it-to-be/) [Lionel Trilling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lionel-trilling/) > [Literature is the human activity that make the fullest and most precise account of variousness, possibility, complexity, and difficulty.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lionel-trilling/literature-is-the-human-activity-that-make-the-fullest-and-most/) [Lionel Trilling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lionel-trilling/) > [A primary function of art andthought is to liberate the individual from the tyranny of his culture in the environmental sense and to permit…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lionel-trilling/a-primary-function-of-art-andthought-is-to-liberate-the-individual/) [Lionel Trilling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lionel-trilling/) > [Being a Jew is like walking in the wind or swimming: you are touched at all points and conscious everywhere.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lionel-trilling/being-a-jew-is-like-walking-in-the-wind-or-swimming-you-are-touched/) [Lionel Trilling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lionel-trilling/) > [It is possible that the contemplation of cruelty will not make us humane but cruel; 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