We have our Arts so we won't die of Truth.
Interpretation
Arts help us cope with the harsh realities of truth.
Ray Bradbury's quote emphasizes the importance of the arts in human existence. He suggests that while truth can be harsh and overwhelming, the arts provide a crucial outlet for expression, interpretation, and emotional relief, allowing us to navigate and endure the challenges of reality without succumbing entirely to its starkness.
In practice
In a speech about the importance of creativity in education, one could reference this quote to advocate for arts programs.
I've written about 2,000 short stories; I've only published 300 and I feel I'm still learning. Any man who keeps working is not a failure. He may not be a great writer, but if he applies the old fashioned virtues of hard, constant labor, he'll eventually make some kind of career for himself as a writer. Ray Bradbury, 1967 interview (Doing the Math - that means for every story he sold, he wrote six "un-publishable" ones. Keep typing!)
I never went to college, so I went to the library.
There must be something in books, something we canβt imagine, to make a woman stay in a burning house; there must be something there. You donβt stay for nothing.
I think the sun is a flower, That blooms for just one hour.
The first thing a writer should be is - excited. He should be a thing of fevers and enthusiasms. Without such vigor, he might as well be out picking peaches or digging ditches; God knows it'd be better for his health.
You can't try to do things; you simply must do them.
Artists are taught to be humble about their impact, especially in folk music. It's so ingrained that I have a hard time even thinking I had any impact other than what a normal hit song would have.
I'm involved in all things musical. It's all consuming, even if it doesn't necessarily manifest as a record or a concert.
Photography is more than a medium for factual communication of ideas. It is a creative art.
Drawing is not following a line on the model, it is drawing your sense of the thing.
When I don't have a story to tell, I'm a terror to live with.
A book is never a masterpiece: it becomes one. Genius is the talent of a dead man.
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