How I have walked... day after day, and all alone, to see if there was not something among the old things which was new!
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
Interpretation
What this quote means
Freedom of imagination is essential for great artistic expression.
Thomas Cole emphasizes that when imagination is constrained to only what is visible or tangible, true greatness in art, whether in painting or poetry, is rarely achieved. He advocates for the liberation of creative thought, suggesting that the most profound and impactful works come from a boundless imagination that transcends the mere physical world.
Themes
ImaginationCreativityArtExpressionFreedom
In practice
Example use cases
In an art class, to inspire students about the importance of imagination in creating their artworks.
More from Thomas Cole
All quotes →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
It 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
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
Similar quotes
Good improvisers seem telepathic; everything looks pre-arranged, This is because they accept all offers made—which is something no ‘normal’ person would do.
Keith JohnstoneRead
As long as you have the acting chops and the desire to get inside a character, you can play anything.
Andy SerkisRead
The pleasure of making things beautiful or useful involves your feelings as well as your thinking. When your original sketch evolves into a tangible, three-dimensional object, your heart is anxiously following the process of your work. And the love involved in making it is conveyed to those for whom you made it.
Eva ZeiselRead
I always did what I thought was interesting. I always just did what caught my fantasy. Looking like a woman, that was never the criteria for me. It was always to do drag. And drag is not gender-specific. Drag is just drag. It's exaggeration.
RupaulRead
A strange thing has happened - while all the other arts were born naked, this, the youngest, has been born fully-clothed. It can say everything before it has anything to say. It is as if the savage tribe, instead of finding two bars of iron to play with, had found scattering the seashore fiddles, flutes, saxophones, trumpets, grand pianos by Erhard and Bechstein, and had begun with incredible energy, but without knowing a note of music, to hammer and thump upon them all at the same time.
Virginia WoolfRead
I'm not a teacher; I'm not a historian. I'm trying to create a world for my characters.
Colson WhiteheadRead