Art
Tom Stoppard on Art & Imagination
“Skill without imagination is craftsmanship and gives us many useful objects such as wickerwork picnic baskets. Imagination without skill gives us modern art.” Tom Stoppard, “Artist Descending a Staircase” British dramatist & screenwriter (1937 – )
Honoré de Balzac on Art
“If we could but paint with the hand what we see with the eye.” Honoré de Balzac
Antoine de Saint-Exupery on Imagination
“A rock pile ceases to be a rock pile the moment a single man contemplates it, bearing within him the image of a cathedral.” Antoine de Saint-Exupery
T. S. Eliot on Music
“You are the music while the music lasts.” T. S. Eliot
Henry Ward Beecher on Art
“Every artist dips his brush in his own soul, and paints his own nature into his pictures.” Henry Ward Beecher
Stanley Kubrick on Movies
“A film is – or should be – more like music than like fiction. It should be a progression of moods and feelings. The theme, what’s behind the emotion, the meaning, all that comes later.” Stanley Kubrick
Leonard Bernstein on Inspiration
“Inspiration is wonderful when it happens, but the writer must develop an approach for the rest of the time… The wait is simply too long.” Leonard Bernstein US composer & conductor (1918 – 1990)
Salvador Dali on Art
“Drawing is the honesty of the art. There is no possibility of cheating. It is either good or bad.” Salvador Dali
Samuel Johnson on Literature
“What is written without effort is in general read without pleasure.” Samuel Johnson English author, critic, & lexicographer (1709 – 1784)
Horace on Poetry
“No poems can please for long or live that are written by water drinkers.” Horace
George Bernard Shaw on Education
“A fool’s brain digests philosophy into folly, science into superstition, and art into pedantry. Hence University education.” George Bernard Shaw Irish dramatist & socialist (1856 – 1950)
James Russell Lowell on Art and Creativity
“Creativity is not the finding of a thing, but the making something out of it after it is found.” James Russell Lowell US diplomat, essayist, & poet (1819 – 1891)
Pablo Picasso on Imagination
“Everything you can imagine is real.” Pablo Picasso Spanish Cubist painter (1881 – 1973)
George Orwell on Writing
“In certain kinds of writing, particularly in art criticism and literary criticism, it is normal to come across long passages which are almost completely lacking in meaning.” George Orwell, “Politics and the English Language”, 1946 English essayist, novelist, & satirist (1903 – 1950)
Pablo Picasso on Art
“There is no abstract art. You must always start with something. Afterward you can remove all traces of reality.” Pablo Picasso Spanish Cubist painter (1881 – 1973)
Jules Renard on Literature
“Literature is an occupation in which you have to keep proving your talent to people who have none.” Jules Renard (1864 – 1910)
Laurence J. Peter on Originality
“Originality is the fine art of remembering what you hear but forgetting where you heard it.” Laurence J. Peter US educator & writer (1919 – 1988)
Albert Einstein on Art and Science
“The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious. It is the source of all true art and science.” Albert Einstein US (German-born) physicist (1879 – 1955)
Virgil Thomson on Music
“The way to write American music is simple. All you have to do is be an American and then write any kind of music you wish.” Virgil Thomson US composer, conductor, & music critic (1896 – 1989)
Victor Hugo on Music
“Music expresses that which cannot be said and on which it is impossible to be silent.” Victor Hugo
Henri Matisse on Art
“A picture must possess a real power to generate light and for a long time now I’ve been conscious of expressing myself through light or rather in light.” Henri Matisse
Danny Kaye on Life
“Life is a great big canvas, and you should throw all the paint on it you can.” Danny Kaye
Philip Johnson on Architecture
“Architecture is the art of how to waste space.” Philip Johnson US architect (1906 – 2005)
Edmond de Goncourt on Art
“A painting in a museum hears more ridiculous opinions than anything else in the world.” Edmond de Goncourt French artist & novelist (1822 – 1896)
Winston Churchill on Art
“Without tradition, art is a flock of sheep without a shepherd. Without innovation, it is a corpse.” Winston Churchill
James Thurber on Art
“He knows all about art, but he doesn’t know what he likes.” James Thurber US author, cartoonist, humorist, & satirist (1894 – 1961)
Pablo Picasso on Imagination
“I paint objects as I think them, not as I see them.” Pablo Picasso
Paul Valery on Poetry
“A poem is never finished, only abandoned.” Paul Valery
William Shakespeare on Imagination
“The lunatic, the lover, and the poet, are of imagination all compact.” William Shakespeare
Salvador Dali on Sanity
“There is only one difference between a madman and me. I am not mad.” Salvador Dali Spanish Catalan Surrealist painter (1904 – 1989)
Aristotle on Art
“The aim of art is to represent not the outward appearance of things, but their inward significance.” Aristotle
George Lucas on Movies
“The secret to film is that it’s an illusion.” George Lucas
Freeman Dyson on Technology
“Technology is a gift of God. After the gift of life it is perhaps the greatest of God’s gifts. It is the mother of civilizations, of arts and of sciences.” Freeman Dyson
Seneca on Literature
“I shall never be ashamed of citing a bad author if the line is good.” Seneca Roman dramatist, philosopher, & politician (5 BC – 65 AD)
Lord Acton on Business
“I’m not a driven businessman, but a driven artist. I never think about money. Beautiful things make money.” Lord Acton
Orson Welles on Art and Time
“I passionately hate the idea of being with it, I think an artist has always to be out of step with his time.” Orson Welles US actor & director (1915 – 1985)
Kate Reid on Acting
“Acting is not being emotional, but being able to express emotion.” Kate Reid
Don Marquis on Procrastination
“Procrastination is the art of keeping up with yesterday.” Don Marquis US humorist (1878 – 1937)