To say 'I love you' one must first be able to say the 'I.'
Ayn RandRead
That which is not worth contemplating in life, is not worth recreating in art.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Art should reflect what is significant and meaningful in life.
This quote by Ayn Rand emphasizes the idea that art must be a reflection of profound truths and significant experiences in life. If a concept or experience is not worthy of deep thought or contemplation, then it does not have enough value to be represented in any artistic form, suggesting that genuine art emerges from the essence of meaningful human experiences.
Themes
ArtContemplationMeaningLife
In practice
Example use cases
In a lecture about the importance of art in society, this quote can highlight the relationship between life experiences and artistic expression.
More from Ayn Rand
All quotes βThe difference between animals and humans is that animals change themselves for the environment, but humans change the environment for themselves.
Ayn RandRead
It is my eyes which see, and the sight of my eyes grants beauty to the earth. It is my ears which hear, and the hearing of my ears gives its song to the world. It is my mind which thinks, and the judgement of my mind is the only searchlight that can find the truth. It is my will which chooses, and the choice of my will is the only edict I must respect.
Ayn RandRead
What is the basic, the essential, the crucial principle that differentiates freedom from slavery? It is the principle of voluntary action versus physical coercion or compulsion.
Ayn RandRead
One method of destroying a concept is by diluting its meaning. Observe that by ascribing rights to the unborn, i.e., the nonliving, the anti-abortionists obliterate the rights of the living.
Ayn RandRead
I think that when in doubt about the truth of an issue, it's safer and in better taste to select the least numerous of the adversaries.
Ayn RandRead
Similar quotes
The work of art assumes the existence of the perfect spectator, and is indifferent to the fact that no such person exists.
E. M. ForsterRead
The old idea of a composer suddenly having a terrific idea and sitting up all night to write it is nonsense. Nighttime is for sleeping.
Benjamin BrittenRead
It is not sufficient to see and to know the beauty of a work. We must feel and be affected by it.
VoltaireRead
Painting is the frozen evidence of a performance.
Chuck CloseRead
There was a beauty in the trash of the alleys which I had never noticed before; my vision seemed sharpened, rather than impaired. As I walked along it seemed to me that the flattened beer cans and papers and weeds and junk mail had been arranged by the wind into patterns; these patterns, when I scrutinized them, lay distributed so as to comprise a visual language.
Philip K. DickRead
All the revision in the world will not save a bad first draft: for the architecture of the thing comes, or fails to come, in the first conception, and revision only affects the detail and ornament, alas!
T. E. LawrenceRead