The aim of jazz is the mechanical reproduction of a regressive moment, a castration symbolism. 'Give up your masculinity, let yourself be castrated,' the eunuchlike sound of the jazz band both mocks and proclaims, 'and you will be rewarded, accepted into a fraternity which shares the mystery of impotence with you, a mystery revealed at the moment of the initiation rite.
Theodor AdornoArt is permitted to survive only if it renounces the right to be different, and integrates itself into the omnipotent realm of the profane.
Theodor AdornoHe who stands aloof runs the risk of believing himself better than others and misusing his critique of society as an ideology for his private interest.
Theodor AdornoThe good man is he who rules himself as he does his own property: his autonomous being is modelled on material power.
Theodor Adorno