Human existence
“‘Human existence, beg to report, sir, is so complicated that the life of a single individual is nothing more than a bit of rubbish in comparison.’”
—Jaroslav Hasek (1883-1923), The Good Soldier Svejk and His Fortunes in the World War, translated from the Czech by Cecil Parrot, 1973.
dogs in the night fear the lighted points of cigarettes
“They went down to the village after general acceptance had been accorded to Svejk’s doctrine that dogs in the night fear the lighted points of cigarettes. Unfortunately none of them were smoking cigarettes, so that Svejk’s advice had no positive effect.”
—Jaroslav Hasek (1883-1923), The Good Soldier Svejk and His Fortunes in the World War, translated from the Czech by Cecil Parrot, 1973.
paint the dog black
“‘Dogs can’t dye their hair like ladies do. This always has to be done by the person who wants to sell them. If a dog is so old that it’s completely grey and you want to sell it as a year-old puppy or pretend that the old dodderer is only nine month old, then you must buy some silver nitrate, dissolve it and paint the dog black so that it looks quite new.’”
—Jaroslav Hasek (1883-1923), The Good Soldier Svejk and His Fortunes in the World War, translated from the Czech by Cecil Parrot, 1973.
an advertising man
“I am not a doctor, or a lawyer or critic but an advertising man. As a profession advertising is young; as a force it is as old as the world. The first four words ever uttered, ‘Let there be light,’ constitute its charter. All Nature is vibrant with its impulse. The brilliant plumage of the bird is color advertising addressed to the emotions of its mate. Plants deck themselved with blossoms, not for beauty only, but to attract the patronage of the bee and so by spreading pollen on its wings, to insure the perpetuation of their kind. . . .
I propose to speak of the advertisements of Jesus which have survived for twenty centuries and are still the most potent influence in the world.”
—Bruce Barton, co-founder of the BBDO agency, from The Man Nobody Knows: A Discovery of the Real Jesus, 1926; quoted by James B. Twitchell in Lead Us Into Temptation: The Triumph of American Materialism, 1999.
soda pop and pop art
“Pop art is popping up on product packages. The brightly colored cartoon and comic strip images are in every aisle. Just look at soft drink cans, for instance: Pepsi-Cola, Cherry Coke, Diet Cherry Coke, and Hawaiian Fruit Punch are splashed with pop pictures of surfers, sunglasses, and lips outlined in cherry-red lipstick. Better yet, look at the supercaffeinated, pick-me-up drinks like Mountain Dew, Mellow Yello, Jolt, or Surge and you will think you are in an explosion in a pop factory. Perhaps it is linguistic justice that soda pop and pop art should finally come together in one tribute to the enduring allure and cultural primacy of the package.”
—James B. Twitchell, Lead Us Into Temptation: The Triumph of American Materialism, 1999.
Advertisers demand color
“Advertisers demand color; it leads to better product recall.”
—James B. Twitchell, Lead Us Into Temptation: The Triumph of American Materialism, 1999.
Christ’s robe
“Scholars have long noted that the medieval peasant could not move far from the iconography of Catholicism. . . . Just as we may recognize the difference between Coca-Cola red and Marlboro red, the medieval audience knew well that Christ’s robe was a distinct shade of red. Commercial speech is here for the same reason Christian iconography was there. It is how we sort through things.”
—James B. Twitchell, Lead Us Into Temptation: The Triumph of American Materialism, 1999.
the shining light
“The gentleman of the criminal type ground his teeth:
‘What you’re accused of and you’ve committed proves you’ve got all your wits about you.’
And now he proceeded to enumerate to Svejk a whole series of different crimes, beginning with high treason and ending with abuse of His Majesty and members of the Imperial Family. The central gem of this collection was Svejk’s approval of the murder of the Archduke Ferdinand, from which there branched out a string of fresh crimes, among which the shining light was the crime of incitement, as it had all happened in a public place.
‘What do you say to that?’ the gentleman with features of bestial cruelty asked triumphantly.
‘There’s a lot of it,’ Svejk replied innocently. ‘You can have too much of a good thing.’”
—Jaroslav Hasek (1883-1923), The Good Soldier Svejk and His Fortunes in the World War, translated from the Czech by Cecil Parrot, 1973.
Green Antony.
Black Maria.
—translators footnote from The Good Soldier Svejk and His Fortunes in the World War by Jaroslav Hasek, translated from the Czech by Cecil Parrot, 1973.
glorious times
“The clean, cosy cubicles of the regional criminal court made the most favorable impression on Svejk—the white-washed walls, the black-painted bars and the fat Mr Demartini, the chief warder for the prisoners on remand, with his purple facings and purple braid on his government-supplied cap. Purple is the colour prescribed not only here, but also at religious services on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday.
The glorious times of Roman rule over Jerusalem were coming back.”
—Jaroslav Hasek (1883-1923), The Good Soldier Svejk and His Fortunes in the World War, translated from the Czech by Cecil Parrot, 1973.