Quotes by famous people, credited to who said them. Your own quotes must not match any of these. More are added all the time. 1,161,747 quotes Who coined it · How we decide
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Art
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“Music would probably go. A lot of art would. That’s what I’m saying – I’m really into comics and movies and video games, and I don’t want to give that stuff up. At the same time, I think it’s filling the void for the stuff we’re missing.”
Andy Hurley (born 1980) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Progressive art can assist people to learn not only about the objective forces at work in the society in which they live, but also about the intensely social character of their interior lives. Ultimately, it can propel people toward social emancipation.”
Angela Davis (born 1944) first seen 1995 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: For a People's Culture." Political Affairs, March 1995.
“Science is a line, art a superficies, and life, or the knowledge of God, a solid.”
Coventry Patmore (1823–1896) said by 1896 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Art was a palace once, things great and fair, And strong and holy , found a temple there:”
Richard Le Gallienne (1866–1947) first seen 1895 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: To the Reader English Poems Copland & Day 1895 Kindle ebook.
“Even in art, there is no light without shadows, and no shadows are cast without some light. Even the shadow of Adolf Hitler is accompanied by some light.”
Hans Frank (1900–1946) first seen 1946 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: To Leon Goldensohn, July 20, 1946, from "The Nuremberg Interviews" by Leon Goldensohn, Robert Gellately - History - 2004 - Page 37
“What's in my veins makes me free Oh what you have done for me! Two who made a work of art Mama brought the armor, Daddy engineered the heart.”
Ysabella Brave (born 1979) first seen 2007 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Baby One (new original song by Ysabella Brave)" (26 August 2007)
“They might try to remind me That Such Tragedy surrounds me But this suffering created art I never found it scary... I was all undercover”
Ysabella Brave (born 1979) first seen 2008 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Undercover" (11 September 2008)
“He was truly after an art in which the creator could be as intelligent as he liked, but in which intelligence must be transmuted entirely into form, so that no lumps of thinking are left showing.”
Wilfrid Sheed (1930–2011) first seen 1977 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Ernest Hemingway" (1977), p. 240
“Too nicely Jonson knew the critic's part; Nature in him was almost lost in Art.”
William Collins (1721–1759) said by 1759 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Not without Art, but yet to Nature true, She charms the town with humour just, yet new.”
Charles Churchill (satirist) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“With curious art the brain, too finely wrought, Preys on herself, and is destroy'd by thought: Constant attention wears the active mind, Blots out our powers, and leaves a blank behind.”
Charles Churchill (satirist) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Capitalism was born from the money loan. Money lending contains the root idea of capitalism. Turn to the pages of the Talmud and you will find that the Jews made an art of lending money. They were taught early to look for their chief happiness in the possession of money. They fathomed all the secrets that lay hid in money. They became Lords of Money and Lords of the World.”
Werner Sombart (1863–1941) first seen 1913 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Jews & Modern Capitalism, 1913. See I Testify Against the Jews by Robert Edward Edmondson. Sons Of Liberty, 3rd ed., 1985.
“All human race, from China to Peru, Pleasure, howe’er disguis’d by art, pursue.”
Thomas Warton (1728–1790) said by 1790 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Universal Love of Pleasure, Reported in Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, 10th ed. (1919). Compare: "Let observation with extensive view/ Survey mankind, from China to Peru", Samuel Johnson, Vanity of Human Wishes, Line 1.
“Drake, he's in his hammock till the great Armadas come, (Captain, art tha sleepin' there below?) Slung atween the roundshot, list'ning for the drum, And dreamin' arl the time o' Plymouth Hoe.”
Henry Newbolt (1862–1938) said by 1938 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Forty years ago, when Dylan Thomas read, he spent half the program reciting other poets' work. Hardly a self-effacing man, he was nevertheless humble before his art. Today most readings are celebrations less of poetry than of the author's ego. No wonder the audience for such events usually consists entirely of poets, would-be poets, and friends of the author.”
Dana Gioia (born 1950) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Poetry is the art of using words charged with their utmost meaning. A society whose intellectual leaders lose the skill to shape, appreciate, and understand the power of language will become the slaves of those who retain it — be they politicians, preachers, copywriters, or newscasters.”
Dana Gioia (born 1950) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Poems should be memorized, recited, and performed. The sheer joy of the art must be emphasized. The pleasure of performance is what first attracts children to poetry, the sensual excitement of speaking and hearing the words of the poem. Performance was also the teaching technique that kept poetry vital for centuries. Maybe it also holds the key to poetry's future.”
Dana Gioia (born 1950) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The retreat of the nation's largest cultural minority from literary discourse does not make art healthier. Instead, it weakens the dialectic of cultural development. It makes American literature less diverse, less vital, and less representative" (28).”
Dana Gioia (born 1950) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Can art, alas! or genius guide the head Where truth and freedom from the heart are fled? Can lesser wheels repeat their native stroke, When the prime function of the soul is broke?”
Mark Akenside (1721–1770) said by 1770 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“If deceiving the eye were the only business of the art, there is no doubt, indeed, but the minute painter would be more apt to succeed; but it is not the eye, it is the mind, which the painter of genius desires to address; nor will he waste a moment upon those smaller objects, which only serve to catch the sense, to divide the attention, and to counteract his great design of speaking to the heart.”
Joshua Reynolds (1723–1792) said by 1792 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“A painter must compensate the natural deficiencies of his art. He has but one sentence to utter, but one moment to exhibit. He cannot, like the poet or historian, expatiate.”
Joshua Reynolds (1723–1792) said by 1792 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Genius is supposed to be a power of producing excellencies, which are out of the reach of the rules of art; a power which no precepts can teach, and which no industry can acquire.”
Joshua Reynolds (1723–1792) said by 1792 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“What has pleased, and continues to please, is likely to please again: hence are derived the rules of art, and on this immoveable foundation they must ever stand.”
Joshua Reynolds (1723–1792) first seen 1776 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Discourse no. 7, delivered on December 10, 1776; vol. 1, p. 223.
“Because we live in such a mind-dominated culture, most modern art, architecture, music, and literature are devoid of beauty, of inner essence, with very few exceptions.”
Eckhart Tolle (born 1948) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The greatest achievement of humanity is not its works of art, science, or technology, but the recognition of its own dysfunction, its own madness.”
Eckhart Tolle (born 1948) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“We have now in our possession three instruments of civilization, unknown to antiquity. These are the art of printing; free representative government; and, lastly, a pure and spiritual religion, the deep fountain of generous enthusiasm, the mighty spring of bold and lofty designs, the great sanctuary of moral power.”
Edward Everett (1794–1865) said by 1865 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Edward Everett, reported in Josiah Hotchkiss Gilbert, Dictionary of Burning Words of Brilliant Writers (1895), p. 141.
“... confess now- could you lie with the wife of your friend? could you debauch his sister? could you defraud a poor creditor? could you by gambling rejoice in the outwitting a novice of all his possessions?- No! why then thou art a silly fellow, incumbered with three abominable inmates; to wit- Conscience, Honesty, and Good-nature”
Ignatius Sancho (1729–1780) first seen 1779 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: (from vol 2, letter 43: 17 Oct 1779, to Mr M___ ).
“All passes. ART alone Enduring stays to us: The Bust out-lasts the throne,— The Coin, Tiberius.”
Henry Austin Dobson (1840–1921) said by 1921 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“See, I went to an all-gay high school. Art and Design. Now the truth is it wasn’t really all gay, but they bused them in, it was the law. [...] So I went to this high school, I had friends like Pablo. Pablo used to breast-feed a porcelain doll during math. You know. My friend Lauren used to roll cigarettes on her boots.”
Harvey Fierstein (born 1952) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“O Poverty! thou source of human art, Thou great inspirer of the poet’s song!”
Edward Moore (1712–1757) said by 1757 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: A Hymn to Poverty", St. 1 (Poetical Works of Edward Moore, Edinburgh: Apollo Press, 1781, p. 154)
“Strive not to say the whole! The Poet, in his Art, Must intimate the whole, and say the smallest part.”
William Wetmore Story (1819–1895) said by 1895 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Hail Guest! We ask not what thou art: If Friend, we greet thee, hand and heart; If Stranger, such no longer be; If Foe, our love shall conquer thee.”
Arthur Guiterman (1871–1943) said by 1943 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Not from the whole wide world I chose thee— Sweetheart, light of the land and the sea! The wide, wide world could not inclose thee, For thou art the whole wide world to me.”
Richard Watson Gilder (1844–1909) said by 1909 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Even as a surgeon, minding off to cut Some cureless limb,—before in ure he put His violent engins on the vicious member, Bringeth his patient in a senseless slumber, And grief-less then (guided by use and art), To save the whole, sawes off th' infested part.”
Guillaume de Salluste Du Bartas (1544–1590) said by 1590 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Also quoted by: Du Bartas
“In the art of biography, the idolator is just as objectionable as the debunker.”
Norman Lindsay (1879–1969) first seen 1965 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Bohemians of the Bulletin (Sydney, 1965), p. viii
“The essence of all art is to have pleasure in giving pleasure.”
Dale Carnegie (1888–1955) said by 1955 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: As quoted in Art Smart (2007) by Alan Bryce
“Here is one of the best bits of advice every given about the fine art of human relationships. "If there is any one secret of success," says Henry Ford, "it lies in the ability to get the other person’s point of view and see things from that person’s angle as well as from your own.”
Dale Carnegie (1888–1955) said by 1955 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: p. 42 (in 2016 edition)
“Art is Nature made by Man To Man the interpreter of God.”
Robert Bulwer-Lytton, 1st Earl of Lytton (1831–1891) first seen 1867 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: The Artist", stanza 41, in The Poetical Works of Owen Meredith, Vol. I (1867), p. 243.
“In this job an illusion of beauty is sold which doesn’t really exist like that. It’s like a work of art, an act. I cry in front of the camera but am not really sad. I’ve just come from a job, am made-up and made to look beautiful with fantastic clothes and hair and nails all done.”
Heidi Klum (born 1973) first seen 2006 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Interview in Der Spiegel (10 February 2006)
“As far as Saddam Hussein being a great military strategist: He is neither a strategist, nor is he schooled in the operational art, nor is he a tactician, nor is he a general, nor is he a soldier. Other than that, he's a great military man.”
Norman Schwarzkopf Jr. (1934–2012) first seen 1991 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Gulf War briefing (28 February 1991), as quoted in "WAR IN THE GULF: Commander's Briefing; Excerpts From Schwarzkopf News Conference on Gulf War" in The New York Times
“I’m not the art police. I welcome the chaos.”
Taylor Swift (born 1989) first seen 2025 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Taylor Swift Responds to Fans Who Dislike ‘The Life of a Showgirl’: ‘I’m Not the Art Police’ and ‘I Welcome the Chaos’ Variety (OCTOBER 7,2025)
“Religion is a barbarous obsidian knife poised over our chests — put it in a cabinet and admire it as a work of art, but don't ever wield the damned thing ever again.”
“I'm an excuse for medical experiments and art theory. You must get me out of here and out of the hospital.”
Peter Greenaway (born 1942) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Perhaps, sadly, in the end, cinema is only a translator's art, and you know what they say about translators: traitors all.”
Peter Greenaway (born 1942) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“A thrown-stone trajectory is a good metaphor for so many phenomena: the curve of an event, any event; the curve of a life, any life; the curve of a hypothesis; the curve experienced in the manufacture of a work of art; the curve of interest experienced in the manufacture of a catalogue.”
Peter Greenaway (born 1942) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I think that films or indeed any art work should be made in a way that they are infinitely viewable; so that you could go back to it time and time again, not necessarily immediately but over a space of time, and see new things in it, or new ways of looking at it.”
Peter Greenaway (born 1942) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I also think that everyone has an elitist approach to his own art, a complex knowledge of it, whether he is a clockmaker or an engineer. And I think it's perfectly legitimate to make use of this knowledge because it enriches the overall texture of life.”
Peter Greenaway (born 1942) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The Great Helpers of humanity do not abandon the Earth so long as sufferings go unhealed. Wholehearted fellowship can easily heal the wounds of a friend — but it is necessary to develop the art of thinking in the name of Good. And this is not easy amid the day's hustle and bustle. But the examples of the Great Helpers of humanity can encourage and infuse new forces.”
Nicholas Roerich (1874–1947) said by 1947 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Can any thing in this world be more foolish than to think that all this rare fabric of heaven and earth can come by chance, when all the skill of art is not able to make an oyster?”
Jeremy Taylor (1613–1667) first seen 1653 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Jeremy Taylor, "Apples of Sodom," Part II, Sermon XX of Twenty-Five Sermons for the Winter Half-Year, Preached at Golden Grove (1653)
Also quoted by: Anatole France (misattributed)
“He seem'd as lithe and free and tall And restless as the boughs that stir Perpetual topt poplar trees. And one, that one, had eyes to teach The art of love, and tongue to preach Life's hard and sober homilies; And yet his eager hands, his speech, All spoke the bold adventurer; While zoned about the belt of each There swung a girt of steel, till all Did seem a walking arsenal.”
Joaquin Miller (1837–1913) said by 1913 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source