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Art Quotes

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Art Quotes

“The heavenly bodies are nothing but a continuous song for several voices (perceived by the intellect, not by the ear); a music which... sets landmarks in the immeasurable flow of time. It is therefore, no longer surprising that man, in imitation of his creator, has at last discovered the art of figured song, which was unknown to the ancients. Man wanted to reproduce the continuity of cosmic time... to obtain a sample test of the delight of the Divine Creator in His works, and to partake of his joy by making music in the imitation of God.”

MenArtBodyWantedLastsJoySongVoiceDivineFlowTestsEarsDelightCreatorIntellectHeavenlyCosmicSurprisingImitationContinuitySampleLandmarksHeavenly Bodies
Author:Johannes Kepler
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“Art is the one form of human energy in the whole world, which really works for union, and destroys the barriers between man and man. It is the continual, unconscious replacement, however fleeting, of oneself by another; the real cement of human life; the everlasting refreshment and renewal. For, what is grievous, dompting, grim, about our lives is that we are shut up within ourselves, with an itch to get outside ourselves. And to be stolen away from ourselves by Art is a momentary relaxation from that itching, a minute's profound, and as it were secret, enfranchisement.”

MenWorldHumansArtRealWholeFormLife IsEnergySecretOur LivesMinutesArt IsUnionsProfoundOneselfWhole WorldHuman LifeUnconsciousBarriersShut UpRelaxationFleetingEverlastingStolenRenewalGrimMomentaryCementReplacementsRefreshmentsItching
Book:The Complete Essays of John Galsworthy: Easyread Super Large 20pt Edition
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“Conclusions which are merely verbal cannot bear fruit, only those do which are based on demonstrated fact. For affirmation and talk are deceptive and treacherous. Wherefore one must hold fast to facts in generalizations also, and occupy oneself with facts persistently, if one is to acquire that ready and infallible habit which we call "the art of medicine".”

IfsArtFactsReadyBearsHabitMedicineFruitOneselfConclusionAcquireAffirmationInfallibleDeceptiveTreacherousGeneralizationHold Fast
Author:Hippocrates
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“A natural talent is required; for, when Nature opposes, everything else is in vain; but when Nature leads the way to what is most excellent, instruction in the art takes place, which the student must try to appropriate to himself by reflection, becoming an early pupil in a place well adapted for instruction. He must also bring to the task a love of labor and perseverance, so that the instruction taking root may bring forth proper and abundant fruits.”

WayTryingWellsMayArtNaturalTalentStudentsBecomingReflectionLaborTasksRootsFruitPerseveranceVainExcellentAppropriateInstructionPupilsAdaptedNatural Talent
Book:Selected Works
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“In contrast to the asexual chasteness of official communist art , Nazi art is both prurient and idealizing. A utopian aesthetics (physical perfection; identity as a biological given) implies an ideal eroticism: sexuality converted into the magnetism of leaders and the joy of followers. The fascist ideal is to transform sexual energy into a "spiritual" force, for the benefit of the community.”

ArtSpiritualJoyEnergyGivenForceCommunityLeaderIdentityBenefitsArt IsIdealsPerfectionSexualityOfficialsCommunistFollowersContrastNaziAestheticsFascistsUtopianMagnetism
Book:A Susan Sontag reader
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“If within the last century art conceived as an autonomous activity has come to be invested with an unprecedented stature - the nearest thing to a sacramental human activity acknowledged by secular society - it is because one of the tasks art has assumed is making forays into and taking up positions on the frontiers of consciousness (often very dangerous to the artist as a person) and reporting back what's there.”

IfsHumansPersonsArtLastsArtistConsciousnessCenturyDangerousPositionActivityTasksSecularFrontiersUnprecedentedStatureHuman ActivityAutonomousSecular Society
Author:Susan Sontag
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“It took time for the church to come to terms with the ignominy of the cross. Church fathers forbade its depiction in art until the reign of the Roman emperor Constantine.... Now, though, the symbol is everywhere: artists beat gold into the shape of the Roman execution device, baseball players cross themselves before batting, and cancy confectioners even make chocolate crosses for the faithful to eat during Holy Week. Strange as it may seem, Christianity has become a religion of the cross--the gallows, the electric chair, the gas chamber, in modern terms.”

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Author:Philip Yancey
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“By denying people's sense of visual beauty in painting and sculpture , melody in music , meter and rhyme in poetry , plot and narrative and character in fiction , the elite arts wrote off the vast majority of their audience . They purposely excluded people who approach art in part for pleasure and edification in favour of social one-upmanship and an ever-narrowing, in-crowd elite.”

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Author:Steven Pinker
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“Photography is unlike any other art form. In the other arts there is always a continuous interplay between the artist and his art. He has the painting or sculpture before him. What we have tried to do is to provide a medium for "artistic expression" to anyone with only a reasonable amount of time. By giving him a camera system with which he need only control his selection of focus, composition and lighting, we free him to select the moment and to criticize immediately what he has done. We enable him to see what else he wants to do on the basis of what he has just learned.”

WantNeedsGivingArtDoneMomentsFormArtistFocusPaintingExpressionAmountPhotographyBasesCamerasMediumsArtisticReasonableCriticizeCompositionSelectionSculptureSelectLightingArtistic Expression
Author:Edwin Land
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“The prerequisite of contrapuntal art, more conspicuous in the work of Bach than in that of any other composer, is an ability to conceive a priori of melodic identities which when transposed, inverted, made retrograde, or transformed rhythmically will yet exhibit, in conjunction with the original subject matter, some entirely new but completely harmonious profile.”

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Author:Glenn Gould
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“All spiritual strength for ourselves, all noble ties to one another, have their real source in that inner sanctuary where God denies His lonely audience to none. Its secrets are holy; its asylum, inviolate; its consolations, sure; and all are open to the simple heart-word, "Thou art my hiding-place.”

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Book:Hours of thought on sacred things, sermons
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“Marvin Gaye said there's a song inside of me and I can't get it out. And I know it's in there, and I can feel that it's in there, and I can't get it out. There's so much that I want to say, and I haven't been able to figure out how to say it in my art. I can only say it in ham-fisted, clumsy, nonpoetic ways, and I'm trying to figure out how to talk about life and talk about love and talk about pain and trials and tribulation in an artistic form.”

KnowsWayWantFeelsTryingArtSaidI CanAblePainFormSongHavensFiguresTrialsArtisticTribulationClumsyHamTrials And TribulationsMarvin
Author:Will Smith
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