Quotes about art
621 quotes from 285 people
It is only through science and art that civilization is of value.
Henri Poincaré1854–1912The Value of Science (1905), Ch. 11: Science and RealityPoetry — No definition of poetry is adequate unless it be poetry itself.
Henry David Thoreau1817–1862Journal (26 January 1840)All art preserves mysteries which aesthetic philosophers tackle in vain.
Anthony Burgess1917–1993A Mouthful of Air: Language and Languages, Especially English (1992)We glorify killing on movie and television screens and call it entertainment.
Robert F. Kennedy1925–1968On the Mindless Menace of Violence (1968)Poetry is the record of the best and happiest moments of the happiest and best minds.
Percy Bysshe Shelley1792–1822A Defence of Poetry (1821)A miracle worker is an artist of the soul. There’s no higher art than living a good life.
Marianne Williamsonborn 1952A Return to Love: Reflections on the Principles of “A Course in Miracles” (1992), Ch. 7: Work, §3: Personal PowerPeople say graffiti is ugly, irresponsible and childish. But that’s only if it’s done properly.
BBanksyborn 1973Wall and Piece (2007)Archeologists have not discovered stages of human existence so early that they were without art.
Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn1918–2008Nobel lecture (1970)Most wretched men
Are cradled into poetry by wrong;
They learn in suffering what they teach in song.Percy Bysshe Shelley1792–1822Julian and Maddalo (1819), l. 543
Vincent van Gogh1853–1890Letter, Tuesday, 18 September 1888; as cited in Van Gogh: The Self-portraits (1969) by Fritz Erpel, p. 17.
Roger Scruton1944–2020Modern Culture (2000), “Avant-garde and Kitsch” (p. 85)- Percy Bysshe Shelley1792–1822A Defence of Poetry (1821)
Richard Feynman1918–1988Surely You’re Joking, Mr. Feynman! (1985), Part 5: “The World of One Physicist”, “But Is It Art?”, p. 261
Paul Cézanne1839–1906Quote from a conversation with Vollard, in the studio of Cézanne, in Aix, 1896; as quoted in Cezanne, by Ambroise Vollard, Dover publications Inc. New York, 1984, p. 67
