--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The destructive character knows only one…" description: "\"The destructive character knows only one watchword: make room. And only one activity: clearing away. The destructive character is young and cheerful. F..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/67c/walter-benjamin-1723_activity_the-destructive-character-knows-only-one_2240259.jpg" --- # The destructive character knows only one watchword: make… ![“The destructive character knows only one watchword: make room. And only one activity: clearing away. The destructive character is young and cheerful. For destroying rejuvenates, because it clears away the traces of our own age; it cheers, because everything cleared away means to the destroyer a…” quote by Walter Benjamin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/67c/walter-benjamin-1723_activity_the-destructive-character-knows-only-one_2240259.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/67c/walter-benjamin-1723_activity_the-destructive-character-knows-only-one_2240259.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/67c/walter-benjamin-1723_activity_the-destructive-character-knows-only-one_2240259.jpg) > “The destructive character knows only one watchword: make room. And only one activity: clearing away. The destructive character is young and cheerful. For destroying rejuvenates, because it clears away the traces of our own age; it cheers, because everything cleared away means to the destroyer a complete reduction, indeed a rooting out, of his own condition.” [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 destructive character seeks to erase the past to feel renewed, using destruction as a means of personal rebirth. **In simple terms:** Destruction is used to feel renewed. Key Takeaway Embrace change, but consider what you lose. Themes destruction renewal identity age cheerfulness Mood reflective critical philosophical Type philosophical analytical When to use this quote - personal growth - artistic creation - cultural critique - psychological healing Key Concepts nihilism existentialism psychology Questions to Reflect On - What parts of your past do you need to let go of? - Is destruction ever truly constructive? A Different Perspective Destruction can also cause loss and trauma, not just renewal. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Age](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/age/) [Character](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/character/) [Cheerful](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cheerful/) ## Related quotes > [The destructive character knows only one watchword: make room; only one activity: clearing away ... The destructive character is young and cheerful. 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Arvin didn't know…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donald-ray-pollock/unless-he-had-whiskey-running-through-his-veins-willard-came-to-the/) [Donald Ray Pollock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donald-ray-pollock/) > [Where does our investigation get its importance from, since it seems only to destroy everything interesting, that is, all that is great and important?…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ludwig-wittgenstein/where-does-our-investigation-get-its-importance-from-since-it-seems/) [Ludwig Wittgenstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ludwig-wittgenstein/) > [I looked in the mirror and stared at my reflection, until I was in the head-clearing trance that comes when you stare at something…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nick-burd/i-looked-in-the-mirror-and-stared-at-my-reflection-until-i-was-in-the/) [Nick Burd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nick-burd/) > [Do you think you should warn him (the guard) that I'm going to kiss you?" 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You cease being an obstacle, not only to yourself but to anyone else.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-gilbert/clearing-out-all-your-misery-gets-you-out-of-the-way-you-cease-being/) [Elizabeth Gilbert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-gilbert/) ## 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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