The great artists of the world are never Puritans, and seldom even ordinarily respectable.
Interpretation
True artists often challenge societal norms and expectations, embracing a more unconventional lifestyle.
H. L. Mencken's quote suggests that many of the world's greatest artists do not conform to the conventional standards of respectability and morality. Instead, they often lead lives that are seen as rebellious or unrefined, which allows them to push boundaries and explore deeper truths in their art. This quote emphasizes that creativity often thrives outside the confines of societal expectations.
In practice
In a discussion about the role of artists in society, one could use this quote to emphasize that true creativity often comes from those who defy conventions.
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.
History has proven that art depicting black people cannot be disentangled from the political implications that such art has on their lives. As Africans were being stripped from the continent and sailed across the Atlantic to the Western world, depictions of black people in Western art changed in order to further render them racialized caricatures.
I write scenes - often quite long scenes - mainly because I still get seduced into writing six lines where one and a half will do.
Art is art, nature is nature, you cannot improve upon it.... Pictures should be inspired by nature, but made in the soul of the artist. It is the soul of the individual that counts.
I'm curious about other people. That's the essence of my acting. I'm interested in what it would be like to be you.
But fantasy kills imagination, pornography is death to art.
I won't call my work entertainment. It's exploring. It's asking questions of people, constantly. 'How much do you feel? How much do you know? Are you aware of this? Can you cope with this?' A good movie will ask you questions you don't already know the answers to. Why would I want to make a film about something I already understand?
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