Ray Bradbury

Why society needs literature

Part of Open Culture’s 275 Cultural Icons series, here is a video excerpt of the American science fiction writer Ray Bradbury talking about the necessity of art.

No matter what your profession in this world, you’re grabbing on to a piece of reality, interpreting it, helping yourself and others to make do. But in the best sense of the word ‘make do’.

We need artists, who take hold of a piece of reality and say ‘this is what it is’.

Nietzsche puts if beautifully. We have art so that we do not die of reality. Reality is too much with us. I think we all know the basic facts of life, each of us. We know too much about that. We know too much about age. We know too much about love that sometimes fails us. People do go away, people do vanish. Friends go off all over the world and never come back.