True Art/Quotes

When the flush of a new-born sun fell first on Eden's green and gold,
Our father Adam sat under the Tree and scratched with a stick in the mould;
And the first rude sketch that the world had seen was joy to his mighty heart,
Till the Devil whispered behind the leaves, "It's pretty, but is it Art?"

—The Conundrum of the Workshops by Rudyard Kipling

Life is serious but art is fun!

—"The King of Mice" (attributed) in The Hotel New Hampshire by John Irving

The function of the artist is to provide what life does not.

—Tom Robbins

It is the business of the artist to select and rearrange his material. How else shall he portray the essence of Life?

—"W. Shakespeare Marlowe", from "Undiplomatic Immunity" by Poul Anderson and Gordon R. Dickson

Logic claims to know -- it is the bastard son of priestcraft -- but art, thank God, only aspires to share an experience.

—Robert Anton Wilson

I don't know what I like, but I know art.

—Attributed to Mark Twain

We know that art is not truth. Art is a lie that makes us realize truth.

—Pablo Picasso

Everyone wants to understand art. Why not try to understand the song of a bird? Why does one love the night, flowers, everything around one, without trying to understand them? But in the case of a painting people have to understand... People who try to explain pictures are usually barking up the wrong tree.

—Pablo Picasso

You're trying to create art. They're going out for burgers. You know what I mean? Picasso understood this.

—Joe Bob Briggs

The purpose of art is to hold a mirror up to life. Life obviously needs more sleep.

"Art is not a mirror. Art is a hammer."

—quoted by Poppy Z. Brite in Drawing Blood

All art is quite useless.

—Oscar Wilde

Skill without imagination is craftsmanship and gives us many objects such as wickerwork picnic baskets. Imagination without skill gives us modern art.

—Tom Stoppard