The only way for us to become great lies in the imitation of the Greeks
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(Redirected from Der einzige Weg für uns, groß, ja, wenn es möglich ist, unnachahmlich zu werden, ist die Nachahmung der Alten)
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"The only way for us to become great lies in the imitation of the Greeks" is a dictum of German art historian Johann Joachim Winckelmann, featured in Thoughts on the Imitation of Greek Works in Painting and Sculpture (1755).
It became a slogan of Neoclassicism.
It defends imitation over originality.
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German original
- "Der einzige Weg für uns, groß, ja, wenn es möglich ist, unnachahmlich zu werden, ist die Nachahmung der Alten"
Fuseli translation:
- "There is but one way for the moderns to become great, and perhaps unequalled ; I mean, by imitating the ancients."
Alternative English translation:
- "The only way for us to become great or, if this be possible, inimitable, is to imitate the ancients"
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See also
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