“n artistic atmosphere does not create artists a literary atmosphere does not create literators; poets and painters spring up where there was never a verse made or a picture seen. This suggests that God is no more idle now than He was at the beginning, but that He is still and forever shaping the human chaos into the instruments and means of beauty.” HumansMeanDoeMadeStillsArtistForeverPoetSpringInstrumentsChaosPainterArtisticAtmosphereVersesIdle Author:William Dean Howells
“Virtue is as little to be acquired by learning as genius; nay, the idea is barren, and is only to be employed as an instrument, in the same way as genius in respect to art. It would be as foolish to expect that our moral and ethical systems would turn out virtuous, noble, and holy beings, as that our aesthetic systems would produce poets, painters, and musicians.” WayLittlesArtIdeasWould BeTurnsMoralVirtueProducePoetGeniusHolyMusicianInstrumentsNobleFoolishPainterEthicalAestheticVirtuousEmployedBarren Author:Arthur Schopenhauer
“A poet is a combination of an instrument and a human being in one person, with the former gradually taking over the latter. The sensation of this takeover is responsible for timbre; the realization of it, for destiny.” HumansPersonsPoetryHuman BeingsDestinyPoetResponsibleInstrumentsRealizationFormerCombinationLatterSensationsTakeoversTimbre Book:Less Than One: Selected Essays Source: Less Than One: Selected Essays
“We might adapt for the artist the joke about there being nothing more dangerous than instruments of war in the hands of generals. In the same way, there is nothing more dangerous than justice in the hands of judges, and a paint brush in the hands of a painter! Just think of the danger to society! But today we haven't the heart to expel the painters and poets because we no longer admit to ourselves that there is any danger in keeping them in our midst.” ThinkingWayHeartArtWarHandsMightTodayArtistJusticeDangerousHavensDangerPoetJudgingJokesInstrumentsPaintPainterMidstBrushesPaint Brushes Author:Pablo Picasso
“If a poem is written well, it was written with the poet's voice and for a voice. Reading a poem silently instead of saying a poem is like the difference between staring at sheet music and actually humming or playing the music on an instrument.” IfsWellsReadingVoiceDifferencesWrittenPoetInstrumentsStaringSheetsHummingSheet Music Author:Robert Pinsky