An art which isn't based on feeling isn't an art at all... feeling is the principle, the beginning and the end; craft, objective, technique - all these are in the middle.
Paul CezanneRead
The world doesn't understand me and I don't understand the world, that's why I've withdrawn from it.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote expresses a sense of alienation and confusion between the individual and society.
In this quote, Paul Cezanne reflects on his feelings of disconnection from both the world and others, suggesting that this lack of understanding has led him to withdraw from society. It speaks to the deep introspective nature of artists and thinkers who often feel at odds with the prevailing norms and values of their surroundings, choosing to distance themselves as a means of coping with that disconnect.
Themes
AlienationUnderstandingWithdrawalSocietyConfusion
In practice
Example use cases
In a discussion on mental health, this quote illustrates the feelings of isolation and misunderstanding.
More from Paul Cezanne
All quotes →Taste is the best judge. It is rare. Art only addresses itself to an excessively small number of individuals.
Paul CezanneRead
Monet is only an eye, but my God, what an eye!
Paul CezanneRead
If I were called upon to define briefly the word Art, I should call it the reproduction of what the senses preceive in nature, seen through the veil of the soul.
Paul CezanneRead
The landscape thinks itself in me and I am its consciousness.
Paul CezanneRead
I lack the magnificent richness of color that animates nature.
Paul CezanneRead
Similar quotes
...there is one thing that all Satan's cunning and all the snares of temptation cannot take by surprise - an undivided will.
Soren KierkegaardRead
Remember, it is not your weakness that will get in the way of God's working through you, but your delusions of strength. His strength is made perfect in our weakness! Point to His strength by being willing to admit your weakness.
Paul David TrippRead
I go on the principle that a public debt is a public curse and in a republican government more than in any other.
James MadisonRead
My concern with religion is that it allows us by the millions to believe what only lunatics or idiots could believe on their own. That's not to say that all religious people are lunatics or idiots. It's anything but that.
Sam HarrisRead
Why does man regret, even though he may endeavour to banish any such regret, that he has followed the one natural impulse, rather than the other; and why does he further feel that he ought to regret his conduct? Man in this respect differs profoundly from the lower animals.
Charles DarwinRead
They learned to have a very high opinion of God and a very low opinion of His works—although they could tell you that this world had been made by God Himself. What they didn’t see was that it is beautiful, and that some of the greatest beauties are the briefest.
Wendell BerryRead