--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Rather than ask, What is the attitude of…" description: "\"Rather than ask, What is the attitude of a work to the relations of production of its time? I should like to ask, What is its position in them.\" — Walt..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c86/walter-benjamin-1723_asks_rather-than-ask-what-is-the-attitude-of_1913712.jpg" --- # Rather than ask, What is the attitude of a work to the… ![“Rather than ask, What is the attitude of a work to the relations of production of its time? I should like to ask, What is its position in them.” quote by Walter Benjamin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c86/walter-benjamin-1723_asks_rather-than-ask-what-is-the-attitude-of_1913712.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c86/walter-benjamin-1723_asks_rather-than-ask-what-is-the-attitude-of_1913712.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c86/walter-benjamin-1723_asks_rather-than-ask-what-is-the-attitude-of_1913712.jpg) > “Rather than ask, What is the attitude of a work to the relations of production of its time? I should like to ask, What is its position in them.” [Walter Benjamin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-benjamin/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The author urges examining a work’s role within its historical and social context rather than just its attitude toward production relations. **In simple terms:** Consider a work’s position in its time’s social structure. Key Takeaway Analyze context over attitude. Themes history philosophy art theory Mood analytical critical Type theoretical philosophical When to use this quote - art criticism - academic research - media analysis Key Concepts social relations production historical positioning Questions to Reflect On - What does this perspective reveal about contemporary media? - How does context shape meaning? A Different Perspective Context may be too complex for simple categorization. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Ask Attitude](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ask-attitude-2898352/) [Asks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/asks/) [Attitude](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/attitude/) [Attitude Work](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/attitude-work/) [Position](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/position/) [Production Time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/production-time-2898353/) [Productions](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/productions/) [Relation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/relation/) [Relations Production](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/relations-production-1005299/) [Should](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/should/) [Time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time/) ## Related quotes > [Relations of production are first reproduced by the materiality of the processes of production and circulation. But it should not be forgotten that ideological…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/louis-althusser/relations-of-production-are-first-reproduced-by-the-materiality-of/) [Louis Althusser](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/louis-althusser/) > [The computer cuts my production time in half. I love it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/scott-adams/the-computer-cuts-my-production-time-in-half-i-love-it/) [Scott Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/scott-adams/) > [“A key technique in implementing this approach is the concept of takt time,3 which precisely synchronizes the rate of production to the rate of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-p-womack/a-key-technique-in-implementing-this-approach-is-the-concept-of-takt/) [James P. Womack](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-p-womack/) > [I had the attitude that I would work with this present-day material and do the best I could to describe it with photography, not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-eggleston/i-had-the-attitude-that-i-would-work-with-this-present-day-material/) [William Eggleston](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-eggleston/) > [Your attitude and work level suits us here, and we are glad that we chose to hire you over other candidates.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/your-attitude-and-work-level-suits-us-here-and-we-are-glad-that-we/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [A big reason why we were able to and have been able to continue to succeed is that we had a very intense work…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-showalter/a-big-reason-why-we-were-able-to-and-have-been-able-to-continue-to/) [Michael Showalter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-showalter/) > [Looks may make first impression but what really make us is our attitude and work .](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/senoraroy/looks-may-make-first-impression-but-what-really-make-us-is-our/) [Senoraroy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/senoraroy/) > [Recruiting is the lifeblood of any program, so you can't put anything above that, ... 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Is a merely professional attitude the only sane approach?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-thiel/is-a-lukewarm-attitude-to-one-s-work-a-sign-of-mental-health-is-a/) [Peter Thiel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-thiel/) > [That society exists to frustrate the individual may be seen from its attitude to work. It is only morally acceptable if you do not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/celia-green/that-society-exists-to-frustrate-the-individual-may-be-seen-from-its/) [Celia Green](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/celia-green/) ## More by Walter Benjamin > [All efforts to render politics aesthetic culminate in one thing: war.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-benjamin/all-efforts-to-render-politics-aesthetic-culminate-in-one-thing-war/) [Walter Benjamin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-benjamin/) > [“The construction of life is at present in the power of facts far more than of convictions, and of such facts as have scarcely…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-benjamin/the-construction-of-life-is-at-present-in-the-power-of-facts-far-more/) [Walter Benjamin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-benjamin/) > [“It should be pointed out that certain correlative concepts retain their meaning, and possibly their foremost significance, if they are referred exclusively to man.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-benjamin/it-should-be-pointed-out-that-certain-correlative-concepts-retain/) [Walter Benjamin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-benjamin/) > [Allegories are, in the realm of thought, what ruins are in the realm of things.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-benjamin/allegories-are-in-the-realm-of-thought-what-ruins-are-in-the-realm-of/) [Walter Benjamin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-benjamin/) > [Things are only mannequins and even the great world-historical events are only costumes beneath which they exchange glances with nothingness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-benjamin/things-are-only-mannequins-and-even-the-great-world-historical-events/) [Walter Benjamin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-benjamin/) > [“to great writers, finished works weigh lighter than those fragments on which they labor their entire lives.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-benjamin/to-great-writers-finished-works-weigh-lighter-than-those-fragments-on/) [Walter Benjamin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-benjamin/) > [All religions have honored the beggar. 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But in its tenacious self-absorption it embraces dead objects in its contemplation, in order to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-benjamin/melancholy-betrays-the-world-for-the-sake-of-knowledge-but-in-its/) [Walter Benjamin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-benjamin/) > [For what is the program of the bourgeois parties? A bad poem on springtime, filled to bursting with metaphors.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-benjamin/for-what-is-the-program-of-the-bourgeois-parties-a-bad-poem-on/) [Walter Benjamin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-benjamin/) > [There was the pedestrian who wedged himself into the crowd, but there was also the flneur who demanded elbow room and was unwilling to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-benjamin/there-was-the-pedestrian-who-wedged-himself-into-the-crowd-but-there/) [Walter Benjamin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-benjamin/) > [The power of a text is different when it is read from when it is copied out. 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