Art Quotes

Beauty, expression, and the human need to create. Artists and thinkers on why art matters.

21093 quotes

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"Everything passes, everything perishes, everything pales in comparison to art."
Théophile Gautier
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"The purpose of art is washing the dust of daily life off our souls."
Théophile Gautier
T
"The only way to express passion is through art."
Théophile Gautier
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"The greater the artist, the greater the doubt; perfect confidence is granted to the less talented as a consolation prize."
Théophile Gautier
T
"The artist is the lover of nature; therefore he is her slave and her master."
Théophile Gautier
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"Without music, life would be a mistake; without art, it would be unbearable."
Théophile Gautier
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"Art is the language of those whom words have abandoned."
Guy de Maupassant
A
"Art reflects the soul of humanity."
Ann Radcliffe
A
"Art is the expression of what cannot be spoken."
Ann Radcliffe
H
"Art reveals the truth of life."
Henry Fielding
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"Art is the expression of the soul."
Henry Fielding
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"Art washes away from the soul the dust of everyday life."
George Sand
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"Art is the expression of the soul."
Frances Burney
F
"Art speaks where words cannot."
Frances Burney
"Art is the expression of the soul."
Daniel Defoe
"Art transcends time and space."
Daniel Defoe
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"Art is the response to the demand for entertainment."
Laurence Sterne
L
"Art washes away from the soul the dust of everyday life."
Laurence Sterne
A
"Mystery and suspense are the soul of narrative art."
Ann Radcliffe
A
"Art is the conversation between the maker and the observer."
Ann Radcliffe
S
"Art requires either complete nakedness or complete convention."
Stendhal
S
"In matters of taste, there is no disputing, but in matters of beauty there is endless debate."
Stendhal
G
"Art for art's sake is a phrase that says nothing, unless we understand it to mean that art is life itself."
George Sand
F
"Art is the imitation of nature."
Frances Burney
H
"Art mirrors the human condition with profound accuracy."
Henry Fielding
"Art imitates nature, but genius surpasses it."
Daniel Defoe
L
"The art of asking is the art of living."
Laurence Sterne
A
"The sublime and the beautiful often exist in proximity."
Ann Radcliffe
A
"The greatest art speaks to something beyond words."
Ann Radcliffe
S
"A work of art is a corner of creation seen through a temperament."
Stendhal