Continuing the "eristic" tradition of a Lichtenberg or a Schopenhauer, Walter Benjamin holds a special place among the aphorists of the 20th century. This book contains a selection of his notorious aphorisms, organized around the significant "No 13": Sixty-five positions on books and whores, writing, criticism, snobs, and success.

Benjamin's five "decalogues" aim to provoke, to scandalize. If I were to describe the link that connects them, I would say it is the polemical edge. They attack emotional stereotypes and lazy commonplaces, seeking to scatter that thick fog that hides from our eyes the means, purposes, and motives of writing and art.

Kostas Koutsourelis