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Quotes about art

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All along the backwater,
Through the rushes tall,
Ducks are a-dabbling,
Up tails all!
Kenneth Grahame1859–1932The Wind in the Willows (1908), Chapter IIIn context
- Animals
- Poetry
An unalterable and unquestioned law of the musical world required that the German text of French operas sung by Swedish artists should be translated into Italian for the clearer understanding of English-speaking audiences.
Edith Wharton1862–1937The Age of Innocence (1920), Book I, Chapter IIn context
- Comedy
- Music
The best in this kind are but shadows; and the worst are no worse, if imagination amend them.
William Shakespeare1564–1616A Midsummer Night’s Dream (c. 1595), Act V, Scene I, spoken by TheseusIn context
- Acting
Be not afeard. The isle is full of noises,
Sounds, and sweet airs, that give delight, and hurt not.
William Shakespeare1564–1616The Tempest (c. 1611), Act III, Scene II, spoken by CalibanIn context
- Music
- Nature
Under the greenwood tree,
Who loves to lie with me
And turn his merry note
Unto the sweet bird’s throat,
Come hither, come hither, come hither!
Here shall he see
No enemy
But winter and rough weather.
William Shakespeare1564–1616As You Like It (c. 1599), Act II, Scene V, spoken by AmiensIn context
- Music
- Nature
O for a Muse of fire, that would ascend
The brightest heaven of invention,
A kingdom for a stage, princes to act,
And monarchs to behold the swelling scene!
William Shakespeare1564–1616Henry V (1599), Prologue, spoken by ChorusIn context
- Inspiration
- Poetry
Of course the music is a great difficulty. You see, if one plays good music, people don’t listen, and if one plays bad music people don’t talk.
Oscar Wilde1854–1900The Importance of Being Earnest (1895), First Act, spoken by AlgernonIn context
- Comedy
- Music
Musical training is a more potent instrument than any other, because rhythm and harmony find their way into the inward places of the soul
Plato429–349 BCThe Republic (c. 375 BC), Book IIIIn context
- Education
- Music
There is an ancient quarrel between philosophy and poetry
Plato429–349 BCThe Republic (c. 375 BC), Book XIn context
- Philosophy
- Poetry
I have often sung to drown my sorrow, but seldom to express my happiness.
Frederick Douglass1817–1895Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass (1845), Chapter IIIn context
- Music
- Slavery
Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?
Thou art more lovely and more temperate:
Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May,
And summer’s lease hath all too short a date
William Shakespeare1564–1616Sonnet 18 (1609)In context
Milton! thou should’st be living at this hour:
England hath need of thee
William Wordsworth1770–1850London, 1802 (1807)In context
- Patriotism
- Poetry
I listen’d till I had my fill:
And, as I mounted up the hill,
The music in my heart I bore,
Long after it was heard no more.
William Wordsworth1770–1850The Solitary Reaper (1807)In context
- Music
In Xanadu did Kubla Khan
A stately pleasure-dome decree:
Where Alph, the sacred river, ran
Through caverns measureless to man
Down to a sunless sea.
Samuel Taylor Coleridge1772–1834Kubla Khan (1816), Kubla KhanIn context
- Poetry
And all should cry, Beware! Beware!
His flashing eyes, his floating hair!
Weave a circle round him thrice,
And close your eyes with holy dread:
For he on honey-dew hath fed,
And drank the milk of Paradise.
Samuel Taylor Coleridge1772–1834Kubla Khan (1816), Kubla KhanIn context
- Genius
- Poetry