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Quotes about art

621 quotes from 285 people

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What men are poets who can speak of Jupiter if he were a man, but if he is an immense spinning sphere of methane and ammonia must be silent?
Richard Feynman1918–1988The Feynman Lectures on Physics, vol. I (1963), lecture 3, “The Relation of Physics to Other Sciences”, p. 3-6
- Poetry
- Science
[Hollywood films] tie things up in nice little bows and give you answers, even if the answers are stupid, you go home and you don’t have to think about it. … The great filmmakers make you go home and think about it.
Terry Gilliamborn 1940Interview to TCM comparing the work of Steven Spielberg and Stanley Kubrick (2009)
- Movies
- Thinking
I wish to write such rhymes as shall not suggest a restraint, but contrariwise the wildest freedom.
Ralph Waldo Emerson1803–1882Journal (27 June 1839)
- Freedom
- Poetry
By words one transmits thoughts to another, by means of art, one transmits feelings.
Leo Tolstoy1828–1910What is Art? (1897)
- Emotion
How often people speak of art and science as though they were two entirely different things, with no interconnection.
Isaac Asimov1920–1992The Roving Mind (1983), Ch. 25
- Science
Music, the greatest good that mortals know,
And all of heaven we have below.
Joseph Addison1672–1719Song for St. Cecilia’s Day (1692), st. 3
- Music
The artist is the only one who knows that the world is a subjective creation, that there is a choice to be made, a selection of elements.
Anaïs Nin1903–1977February 1954 The Diary of Anaïs Nin, Vol. 5 as quoted in Woman as Writer (1978) by Jeannette L. Webber and Joan Grumman, p. 38
We all reflect the world we live in. Even if you make a period film, it will reflect your times.
David Lynch1946–2025Catching the Big Fish (2006), “Darkness”, p. 91
- Movies
Anger and depression and sorrow are beautiful things in a story, but they are like poison to the filmmaker or artist.
David Lynch1946–2025Catching the Big Fish (2006), “Suffocating Rubber Clown Suit”, p. 8
- Emotion
The world is a king, and like a king, desires flattery in return for favor; but true art is selfish and perverse — it will not submit to the mold of flattery.
Ludwig van Beethoven1770–1827Conversation book (March 1820)
Do not merely practice your art, but force your way into its secrets; it deserves that, for only art and science can exalt man to divinity.
Ludwig van Beethoven1770–1827Letter to Emilie, July 17, 1812.
- Science
I really liked Deadheads and the whole Dead concert scene: the tailgating, the tie-dye uniforms, the camaraderie — it was like NASCAR for potheads.
Ann Coulterborn 1961Interview in Jambands (June 23, 2006).
- Comedy
- Music
Great artists are products of their own time: they do not spring forth fully equipped from the head of Jove, but are formed by the circumstances acting upon them since birth.
Germaine Greerborn 1939The Obstacle Race (1979), Chapter VII: The Disappearing Oeuvre, p. 134
I don’t want life to imitate art. I want life to be art.
Carrie Fisher1956–2016Postcards from the Edge (1987)
- Life & Death
I slept with some nerd. I hope it was George [Lucas]. I took too many drugs to remember.
Carrie Fisher1956–2016In a Vanity Fair interview when asked how she got the part in Star Wars
- Comedy
- Movies