The genuine music lover may accept the carnal husk of opera to get at the kernel of actual music within, but that is no sign that he approves the carnal husk or enjoys gnawing through it.
Interpretation
A true music lover appreciates the essence of music, even if it is surrounded by less appealing aspects.
H. L. Mencken's quote suggests that a genuine lover of music recognizes the underlying beauty and significance of music itself, despite any superficial or unappealing elements surrounding it, such as the often-criticized extravagance of opera. This implies that true appreciation goes beyond mere enjoyment of presentation; it hinges on a deeper connection to the art form.
In practice
In a lecture on the complexity of art, one might quote this to emphasize the importance of understanding deeper meanings.
I know a good many men of great learning-that is, men born with an extraordinary eagerness and capacity to acquire knowledge. One and all, they tell me that they can't recall learning anything of any value in school. All that schoolmasters managed to accomplish with them was to test and determine the amount of knowledge that they had already acquired independently-and not infrequently the determination was made clumsily and inaccurately.
It takes a long while for a naturally trustful person to reconcile himself to the idea that after all God will not help him
It is the theory of all modern civilized governments that they protect and foster the liberty of the citizen; it is the practice of all of them to limit its exercise, and sometimes very narrowly.
The central belief of every moron is that he is the victim of a mysterious conspiracy against his common rights and true deserts.
The cure for the evils of democracy is more democracy.
It is my conviction that no normal man ever fell in love, within the ordinary meaning of the term, after the age of thirty.
In the writing process, the more the story cooks, the better. The brain works for you even when you are at rest. I find dreams particularly useful. I myself think a great deal before I go to sleep and the details sometimes unfold in the dream.
Photography takes an instant out of time, altering life by holding it still.
To see something spectacular and recognise it as a photographic possibility is not making a very big leap. But to see something ordinary, something you’d see every day, and recognize it as a photographic possibility - that is what I am interested in.
I always do the first line well, but I have trouble doing the others.
The condition every art requires is, not so much freedom from restriction, as freedom from adulteration and from the intrusion of foreign matter.
The dumbing down of the country reflects itself on Broadway. The shows get dumber, and the public gets used to them.
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