Arts Quotations

“The highest purpose of art is to inspire.”
— Bob Dylan

“Art washes from the soul the dust of everyday life.”
—Pablo Picasso

“Life is short, and the art is long.”
-Hippocrates

“When I examine myself and my method of thought, I come to the conclusion that the gift of fantasy has meant more to me than my talent for absorbing knowledge.”
—Albert Einstein

“When we teach a child how to play a musical instrument or to sing, we teach her how to listen. When we teach a child to draw, we teach him how to see. When we teach a child to dance, we teach her how her body works. When we teach a child about the folk and traditional arts and the great masterpieces of the ages from all cultures, we teach her how to find her place in the confluence of history and experience the pride that comes from recognizing and celebrating one’s roots. When we teach a child to write, we introduce him to the metaphors by which we live.”
—Jane Alexander, Chairman, NEA, 1994

“There is a vitality, a life force, an energy, a quickening, that is translated through you into action, and because there is only one of you in all time, this expression is unique. And if you block it, it will never exist though any other medium and will be lost.”
—Martha Graham

“Living is a form of not being sure, not knowing what next or how. The moment you know how, you begin to die a little. The artist never entirely knows. We guess. We may be wrong, but we take leap after leap in the dark.”
—Agnes de Mille

“One should either be a piece of art or wear a piece of art.”
—Oscar Wilde

“One ought, every day at least, to hear a little song, read a good poem, see a fine picture, and if it were possible, to speak a few reasonable words.”
—Göthe

“After silence, that which comes nearest to expressing the inexpressible is music.”
—Aldous Huxl