Art quotes
22.1K quotes on this topic — from poets, philosophers, and thinkers across history.
Explore further
Browse quotes that often appear alongside art — connected by shared ideas and recurring themes.
Quote collection
Follow a thought to its author, or read the full quote page.
"A prince... must learn from the fox and the lion... One must be a fox in order to recognize traps, and a lion to frighten off wolves. Those who act simply as lions are stupid. So it follows that a prudent ruler cannot, and must not, honour his word when it places him at a disadvantage and when the reasons for which he made his promise no longer exist."
"The artist, like the God of the creation, remains within or behind or beyond or above his handiwork, invisible, refined out of existence, indifferent, paring his fingernails."
"The sculptor produces the beautiful statue by chipping away such parts of the marble block as are not needed - it is a process of elimination."
"You're nobody 'til somebody kills you."
"The passions are the only orators that always persuade: they are, as it were, a natural art, the rules of which are infallible; and the simplest man with passion is more persuasive than the most eloquent without it."
"Sleeping is no mean art: for its sake one must stay awake all day."
"The writer's only responsibility is to his art...If a writer has to rob his mother, he will not hesitate; the 'Ode on a Grecian Urn' is worth any number of old ladies."
"Life is sacred. Life is art. Life is sacred art. The art of sacred living means being a holy actor, acting from the soul rather than the ego. The soul is out of space and time and hence always available, an ever-present potential of our being. It is up to each of us to celebrate and to actualize our being and to turn each meal, conversation, outfit, letter, and so on, into art. Every mundane activity is an opportunity for full authentic self-expression. The soul is our artistic self, our capacity for transforming every dimension of our lives into art and theater."
"Art is the most intense mode of individualism that the world has known."
"A fool's brain digests philosophy into folly, science into superstition, and art into pedantry. Hence University education."
"Space is the breath of art."
"Fluidity is the way to an empty mind. You must free your ambitious mind and learn the art of dying."
"Don't think about making art, just get it done. Let everyone else decide if it's good or bad, whether they love it or hate it. While they are deciding, make even more art."
"If the dream is a translation of waking life, waking life is also a translation of the dream."
"Without art, the crudeness of reality would make the world unbearable."
"Arise, transcend Thyself, Thou art man and the whole nature of man Is to become more than himself."
"Music is art, and art is important and rare. Important, rare things are valuable. Valuable things should be paid for."
"In the haunted house of life, art is the only stair that doesn't creak."
"I see dance being used as communication between body and soul, to express what it too deep to find for words."
"Art is never finished, only abandoned."
