Married couples who quarrel bitterly every day may really need each other as deeply as those who appear to be desperately in love.
Edward AbbeyRead
The artist in our time has two chief responsibilities: (1) art; and (2) sedition.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Artists must engage with their craft and challenge societal norms.
Edward Abbey asserts that artists today have a crucial role that includes not only the creation of art but also a duty to question and resist oppressive systems. By highlighting 'sedition' as a responsibility, Abbey suggests that true art often entails a rebellious spirit that critiques the status quo and provokes thought and action among audiences.
Themes
ArtSeditionResponsibilityCreativityRebellion
In practice
Example use cases
Using this quote during an art symposium to emphasize the role of artists in activism.
More from Edward Abbey
All quotes βI love America because it is a confused, chaotic mess - and I hope we can keep it this way for at least another thousand years. The permissive society is the free society.
Edward AbbeyRead
If it's knowledge and wisdom you want, then seek out the company of those who do real work for an honest purpose.
Edward AbbeyRead
The earth is real. Only a fool, milking his cow, denies the cow's reality.
Edward AbbeyRead
I believe in nothing that I cannot touch, kiss, embrace.... The rest is only hearsay.
Edward AbbeyRead
Why can't we simply borrow what is useful to us from Buddhism, Hinduism, Taoism, especially Zen, as we borrow from Christianity, science, American Indian traditions and world literature in general, including philosophy, and let the rest go hang? Borrow what we need but rely principally upon our own senses, common sense and daily living experience.
Edward AbbeyRead
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What I mean by 'abstract' is something which comes to life spontaneously through a gamut of contrasts, plastic at the same time as psychic, and pervades both the picture and the eye of the spectator with conceptions of new and unfamiliar elements.
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I'm fascinated by musicians who don't completely understand their territory; that's when you do your best work.
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Supreme serenity still remains the Ideal of great Art. The shapes and transitory forms of life are but stages toward this Ideal, which Christ's religion illuminates with His divine light.
Franz LisztRead