Some people hate everything that is modern. They cannot imagine how anyone can really like modern music; they
find it hard to accept the new fashions in clothing; they think that all modern painting is ugly; and they seldom
have a good word for the new buildings that are being built everywhere in the world. Such people look for
perfection in everything, and they take their standards of perfection from the past. They are usually impatient
with anyone who is brave enough to experiment with new or to express himself or the age in materials original
ways. It is, of course, true that many artists do not succeed in their work and instead produce works that can
only be considered as failures. If the work of art is a painting, the artist’s failure concerns himself alone, but if
it is a building, his failure concerns others too, because it may damage the beauty of the whole place. This does
sometimes happen, but it is completely untrue to say, as some people do, that modern architecture is nothing.
We can’t judge every modern building by the standards of the ancient time, even though we admire the ancient
buildings. Technologically, the modern buildings are more advanced. The modern architect knows he should learn
from the ancient works, but with his greater resources of knowledge and materials, he will never be content to
imitate the past. He is too proud to do that.
Some people hate everything that is modern because _______.
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