--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The big secret about Art is that no one…" description: "\"The big secret about Art is that no one wants it to be true.\" — Adam Phillips" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/657/adam-phillips-18270_aesthetics_the-big-secret-about-art-is-that-no-one_437338.png" --- # The big secret about Art is that no one wants it to be true. ![“The big secret about Art is that no one wants it to be true.” quote by Adam Phillips](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/657/adam-phillips-18270_aesthetics_the-big-secret-about-art-is-that-no-one_437338.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/657/adam-phillips-18270_aesthetics_the-big-secret-about-art-is-that-no-one_437338.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/657/adam-phillips-18270_aesthetics_the-big-secret-about-art-is-that-no-one_437338.png) > “The big secret about Art is that no one wants it to be true.” [Adam Phillips](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adam-phillips/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Art's secret is that people resist accepting its truths, preferring illusion over reality. **In simple terms:** People often deny uncomfortable truths in art. Key Takeaway Acknowledge discomfort in artistic truth. Themes art truth illusion psychology Mood thoughtful analytical Type philosophical critical When to use this quote - gallery visits - creative work - critical analysis - education Key Concepts cognitive bias aesthetic philosophy Questions to Reflect On - Why do we cling to comforting narratives? - How does confronting truth change perception? A Different Perspective It may overgeneralize; not everyone resists truth. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Aesthetics](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/aesthetics/) [Art](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/art/) [Artist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/artist/) [Philosophy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/philosophy/) [Secret](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/secret/) [Secrets](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/secrets/) [Truth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/truth/) ## Related quotes > [Deep down everyone wants true love because that is truely the closest thing we have to magic.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/deep-down-everyone-wants-true-love-because-that-is-truely-the-closest/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Everyone wants True love , but not everyone wants to be True](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/km-ii/everyone-wants-true-love-but-not-everyone-wants-to-be-true/) [KM II](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/km-ii/) > [It is one of the primary motives of modern art that it wants to abolish the distance which the viewer, the consumer, the audience…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hans-georg-gadamer/it-is-one-of-the-primary-motives-of-modern-art-that-it-wants-to/) [Hans-Georg Gadamer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hans-georg-gadamer/) > [It is one of the primary motives of modern art that it wants to abolish the distance which the viewer, the consumer, the audience…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hans-georg-gadamer/it-is-one-of-the-primary-motives-of-modern-art-that-it-wants-to-2/) [Hans-Georg Gadamer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hans-georg-gadamer/) > [Art is not for the personal satisfaction of one or the other, but art wants to return all what's in life... Art wants to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bram-van-velde/art-is-not-for-the-personal-satisfaction-of-one-or-the-other-but-art/) [Bram van Velde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bram-van-velde/) > [Art that wants to be felt does not have the need to be admired.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-darby-bannard/art-that-wants-to-be-felt-does-not-have-the-need-to-be-admired/) [Walter Darby Bannard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-darby-bannard/) > [God put a secret art into the forces of Nature so as to enable it to fashion itself out of chaos into a perfect…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/immanuel-kant/god-put-a-secret-art-into-the-forces-of-nature-so-as-to-enable-it-to/) [Immanuel Kant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/immanuel-kant/) > [Slowly I discovered the secret of my art. It consists of a meditation on nature, on the expression of a dream which is always…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henri-matisse/slowly-i-discovered-the-secret-of-my-art-it-consists-of-a-meditation/) [Henri Matisse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henri-matisse/) > [The artist's quest is to succeed in combining and balancing all compositional attributes and physical elements into those that are purely spiritual. That is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-j-fraughton/the-artist-s-quest-is-to-succeed-in-combining-and-balancing-all/) [Edward J. Fraughton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-j-fraughton/) > [Music can noble hints impart, Engender fury, kindle love, With unsuspected eloquence can move, And manage all the man with secret art.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-addison/music-can-noble-hints-impart-engender-fury-kindle-love-with/) [Joseph Addison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-addison/) > [The painter goes through states of fullness and evaluation. That is the whole secret of art.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pablo-picasso/the-painter-goes-through-states-of-fullness-and-evaluation-that-is/) [Pablo Picasso](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pablo-picasso/) > [The dirty secret of art is you don't have to show people your bad writing. That's what we have the delete key for.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-mckee/the-dirty-secret-of-art-is-you-don-t-have-to-show-people-your-bad/) [Robert McKee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-mckee/) > [The secret of art is love.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/antoine-bourdelle/the-secret-of-art-is-love/) Antoine Bourdelle > [Let your deafness no longer be a secret - even in art.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ludwig-van-beethoven/let-your-deafness-no-longer-be-a-secret-even-in-art/) [Ludwig van Beethoven](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ludwig-van-beethoven/) > [Being natural is the ultimate secret of our art.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/toshitsugu-takamatsu/being-natural-is-the-ultimate-secret-of-our-art/) [Toshitsugu Takamatsu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/toshitsugu-takamatsu/) ## More by Adam Phillips > [“Writers as diverse as Wordsworth and Freud, as Blake and Dickens have all hypothesized that the turbulence and intensity we feel as young children…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adam-phillips/writers-as-diverse-as-wordsworth-and-freud-as-blake-and-dickens-have/) [Adam Phillips](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adam-phillips/) > [Transgression is a quest for solitude](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adam-phillips/transgression-is-a-quest-for-solitude/) [Adam Phillips](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adam-phillips/) > [The vocabulary of one’s self-criticism is so impoverished and clichéd. We are at our most stupid in our self-hatred.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adam-phillips/the-vocabulary-of-one-s-self-criticism-is-so-impoverished-and-clich-d/) [Adam Phillips](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adam-phillips/) > [“Indeed psychoanalysis makes sense only as part of the larger cultural conversation in the arts that became known as modernism. Vienna, where Freud lived…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adam-phillips/indeed-psychoanalysis-makes-sense-only-as-part-of-the-larger-cultural/) [Adam Phillips](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adam-phillips/) > [“If you want to be with somebody who gets you, you prefer collusion to desire, safety to excitement (sometimes good things to prefer but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adam-phillips/if-you-want-to-be-with-somebody-who-gets-you-you-prefer-collusion-to/) [Adam Phillips](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adam-phillips/) > [“Anger, then, is only for the engaged; for those with projects that matter.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adam-phillips/anger-then-is-only-for-the-engaged-for-those-with-projects-that-matter/) [Adam Phillips](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adam-phillips/) > [“Finding hate-objects may be every bit as essential as finding love-objects, but if one can tolerate some of one's badness -- meaning recognize it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adam-phillips/finding-hate-objects-may-be-every-bit-as-essential-as-finding-love/) [Adam Phillips](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adam-phillips/) > [Sanity, as the project of keeping ourselves recognizably human, therefore has to limit the range of human experience. To keep faith with recognition we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adam-phillips/sanity-as-the-project-of-keeping-ourselves-recognizably-human/) [Adam Phillips](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adam-phillips/) > [“So there is something perhaps more difficult to conceive of, sometimes born of resignation and sometimes not- a life in which not getting it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adam-phillips/so-there-is-something-perhaps-more-difficult-to-conceive-of-sometimes/) [Adam Phillips](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adam-phillips/) > [ The child..will try to make himself..independent of other people. .. Excesses of appetite are self-cures for feelings of hopelessness. ..The child \[uses\] ‘doubt about… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adam-phillips/the-child-will-try-to-make-himself-independent-of-other-people/) [Adam Phillips](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adam-phillips/) > [To grow up is to discover what one is unequal to.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adam-phillips/to-grow-up-is-to-discover-what-one-is-unequal-to/) [Adam Phillips](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adam-phillips/) > [There is nothing more terrorizing than the possibility that nothing is hidden. There is nothing more scandalous than a happy marriage](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adam-phillips/there-is-nothing-more-terrorizing-than-the-possibility-that-nothing/) [Adam Phillips](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adam-phillips/) > [There is always a ..belief that by destroying the thing that we love we destroy our needs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adam-phillips/there-is-always-a-belief-that-by-destroying-the-thing-that-we-love-we/) [Adam Phillips](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adam-phillips/) > [Everybody is dealing with how much of their own aliveness they can bear and how much they need to anesthetize themselves.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adam-phillips/everybody-is-dealing-with-how-much-of-their-own-aliveness-they-can/) [Adam Phillips](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adam-phillips/) > [I am always true to myself, that is the problem. Who else could I be true to?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adam-phillips/i-am-always-true-to-myself-that-is-the-problem-who-else-could-i-be/) [Adam Phillips](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adam-phillips/) [Explore all 32 Adam Phillips quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adam-phillips/) ## More Aesthetics quotes > [True works of art contain their own theory and give us the measurement according to which we should judge them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/true-works-of-art-contain-their-own-theory-and-give-us-the/) [Johann Wolfgang von Goethe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/) > [The term "black metal" has become a lot looser, or can include a larger range of sounds and extra-musical aesthetics, not just Satan and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colin-marston/the-term-black-metal-has-become-a-lot-looser-or-can-include-a-larger/) [Colin Marston](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colin-marston/) > [As a result of reading science fiction when I was eight, I grew up with an interest in music, architecture, city planning, transportation, politics,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ray-bradbury/as-a-result-of-reading-science-fiction-when-i-was-eight-i-grew-up/) [Ray Bradbury](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ray-bradbury/) > [Pleasure is by no means an infallible critical guide, but it is the least fallible.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-h-auden/pleasure-is-by-no-means-an-infallible-critical-guide-but-it-is-the/) [W. H. Auden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-h-auden/) > [ Probably the high-watermark of \[Bob\] Dylan's career came after he plugged in his guitar ("Judas!" one fan shouted during a concert) and exploded American… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jay-michaelson/probably-the-high-watermark-of-bob-dylan-s-career-came-after-he/) [Jay Michaelson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jay-michaelson/) > [Road cycling, especially up mountains. It's the heady mixture of endorphins and aesthetics that I love. My wife does it too, and being with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gary-kemp/road-cycling-especially-up-mountains-it-s-the-heady-mixture-of/) [Gary Kemp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gary-kemp/) > [“No man sings as beautifully as when his song is accompanied by a woman’s voice.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roman-payne/no-man-sings-as-beautifully-as-when-his-song-is-accompanied-by-a/) [Roman Payne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roman-payne/) > [ \[Alexei Nemov\] has the best feel for the aesthetics of the sport. He doesn't just do a skill; he makes it look gorgeous. Some… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-vidmar/alexei-nemov-has-the-best-feel-for-the-aesthetics-of-the-sport-he/) [Peter Vidmar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-vidmar/) > [The great work of art is the complete banality, and the fault with most banalities is that they are not banal enough. Banality here…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/asger-jorn/the-great-work-of-art-is-the-complete-banality-and-the-fault-with/) [Asger Jorn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/asger-jorn/) > [I find the aesthetics of the 20th century hopelessly barren.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/twyla-tharp/i-find-the-aesthetics-of-the-20th-century-hopelessly-barren/) [Twyla Tharp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/twyla-tharp/) > [For it is a mad world and it will get madder if we allow the minorities, be they dwarf or giant, orangutan or dolphin,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ray-bradbury/for-it-is-a-mad-world-and-it-will-get-madder-if-we-allow-the/) [Ray Bradbury](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ray-bradbury/) > [We’re surrounded by anonymous, poorly made objects. It’s tempting to think it’s because the people who use them don’t care-just like the people who…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-ive/we-re-surrounded-by-anonymous-poorly-made-objects-it-s-tempting-to/) [Jonathan Ive](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-ive/) > [After a certain high level of technical skill is achieved science and art tend to coalesce in aesthetics, plasticity, and form. The greatest scientists…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-einstein/after-a-certain-high-level-of-technical-skill-is-achieved-science-and/) [Albert Einstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-einstein/) > [There's only so much you can do until you get on set and see the aesthetics of what you're dealing with. Then you see…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-urban/there-s-only-so-much-you-can-do-until-you-get-on-set-and-see-the/) [Karl Urban](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karl-urban/) > [In our view the Olympic idea involves a strong physical culture supplemented on the one hand by mobility, what is so aptly called 'fair…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pierre-de-coubertin/in-our-view-the-olympic-idea-involves-a-strong-physical-culture/) [Pierre de Coubertin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pierre-de-coubertin/) [Browse all 302 Aesthetics quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/aesthetics/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "The big secret about Art is that no one wants it to be true.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Adam Phillips" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adam-phillips/the-big-secret-about-art-is-that-no-one-wants-it-to-be-true/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Aesthetics" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adam-phillips/the-big-secret-about-art-is-that-no-one-wants-it-to-be-true/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/657/adam-phillips-18270_aesthetics_the-big-secret-about-art-is-that-no-one_437338.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/657/adam-phillips-18270_aesthetics_the-big-secret-about-art-is-that-no-one_437338.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/657/adam-phillips-18270_aesthetics_the-big-secret-about-art-is-that-no-one_437338.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“The big secret about Art is that no one wants it to be true.” — Adam Phillips", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Adam Phillips", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adam-phillips/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "The big secret about Art is...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adam-phillips/the-big-secret-about-art-is-that-no-one-wants-it-to-be-true/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adam-phillips/the-big-secret-about-art-is-that-no-one-wants-it-to-be-true/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```