None know how often the hand of God is seen in a wilderness but them that rove it for a man's life.
Thomas ColeRead
How I have walked... day after day, and all alone, to see if there was not something among the old things which was new!
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote reflects the artist's solitary journey in search of inspiration and novelty from the past.
Thomas Cole expresses the artist's experience of walking alone each day, seeking out the beauty and originality that might be hidden within the familiar, old things. This reveals the constant quest for innovation that artists embark upon, highlighting the interplay between the past and the new, where one can find freshness in experiences that seem aged.
Themes
ArtInspirationJourneyCreativitySolitude
In practice
Example use cases
During a gallery speech discussing the creative process.
More from Thomas Cole
All quotes βIt was not that the jagged precipices were lofty, that the encircling woods were the dimmest shade, or that the waters were profoundly deep; but that over all, rocks, wood, and water, brooded the spirit of repose, and the silent energy of nature stirred the soul to its inmost depths.
Thomas ColeRead
To walk with nature as a poet is the necessary condition of a perfect artist.
Thomas ColeRead
If the imagination is shackled, and nothing is described but what we see, seldom will anything truly great be produced either in Painting or Poetry
Thomas ColeRead
Now nature is not at variance with art, nor art with nature; they being both the servants of his providence. Art is the perfection of nature. Were the world now as it was the sixth day, there were yet a chaos. Nat, are unconscious of the harmony of creation.
Thomas ColeRead
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