The sun never knew how great it was until it hit the side of a building.
Louis KahnRead
I sense a Threshold: Light to Silence, Silence to Light - an ambiance of inspiration, in which the desire to be, to express, crosses with the possible Light to Silence, Silence to Light crosses in the sanctuary of art.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote speaks to the transformative power of art, bridging the gap between silence and expression.
Louis Kahn's quote suggests that there exists a 'Threshold' where sound and silence meet, creating a space for inspiration and expression. This sanctuary, found within the realm of art, allows individuals to move from the quietude of thought to the clarity and illumination of creative expression, highlighting the intimate relationship between silence and artistic creation.
Themes
ArtInspirationCreativityExpressionSilenceLight
In practice
Example use cases
A speaker at an art gallery opening discussing the importance of silence in creative processes.
More from Louis Kahn
All quotes →Greek architecture taught me that the column is where the light is not, and the space between is where the light is. It is a matter of no-light, light, no-light, light. A column and a column brings light between them. To make a column which grows out of the wall and which makes its own rhythm of no-light, light, no-light, light: that is the marvel of the artist.
Louis KahnRead
The room is the beginning of architecture.
Louis KahnRead
Architecture is the reaching out for the truth.
Louis KahnRead
The creation of art is not the fulfillment of a need but the creation of a need. The world never needed Beethoven's Fifth Symphony until he created it. Now we could not live without it.
Louis KahnRead
We are born of light. The seasons are felt through light. We only know the world as it is evoked by light.
Louis KahnRead
Similar quotes
I understand that people want to just listen to a track and put it on their iPod, and that's fine, there's nothing wrong with that, but why can't that exist hand in hand with an album? They're such different experiences.
Kate BushRead
I think you too recognize the important relationship between philosophy and art, and it is just this relationship that most painters deny. The great masters do grasp it, unconsciously; but I believe that a painter's conscious spiritual knowledge will have a much greater influence upon his art, and that it would be due only to a weakness in him, or lack of genius, should this spiritual knowledge be harmful to his art.
Piet MondrianRead
We must never forget that art is not a form of propaganda; it is a form of truth.
John F. KennedyRead
I wish you would recollect that Painting and Punctuality mix like Oil and Vinegar, and that Genius and regularity are utter Enemies and must be to the end of time.
Thomas GainsboroughRead
For my part, if I consider poetry as an object, I maintain that it is born of the necessity of adding a vocal sound (speech) to the hammering of the first tribal music.
Eugenio MontaleRead
For me, I really feel like if there's not a real, true connection to the material, I don't need to sing it. I don't need to sing songs just because I like them anymore. I've done that.
Billy PorterRead