--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: In 'Art as Therapy', we argue that art is…" description: "\"In 'Art as Therapy', we argue that art is a tool that can variously help to inspire, console, redeem, guide, comfort, expand and reawaken us.\" — Alain ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/946/alain-de-botton-221_art_in-art-as-therapy-we-argue-that-art-is-a_1974457.jpg" --- # In 'Art as Therapy', we argue that art is a tool that can… ![“In 'Art as Therapy', we argue that art is a tool that can variously help to inspire, console, redeem, guide, comfort, expand and reawaken us.” quote by Alain de Botton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/946/alain-de-botton-221_art_in-art-as-therapy-we-argue-that-art-is-a_1974457.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/946/alain-de-botton-221_art_in-art-as-therapy-we-argue-that-art-is-a_1974457.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/946/alain-de-botton-221_art_in-art-as-therapy-we-argue-that-art-is-a_1974457.jpg) > “In 'Art as Therapy', we argue that art is a tool that can variously help to inspire, console, redeem, guide, comfort, expand and reawaken us.” [Alain de Botton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alain-de-botton/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Art serves as a multifaceted therapeutic tool, offering inspiration, comfort, guidance, and renewal for personal growth. **In simple terms:** Art can heal and inspire in many ways. Key Takeaway Use art intentionally for emotional support. Themes art therapy wellbeing creativity Mood calming hopeful Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - mental health practice - education - community building Key Concepts psychological healing inspiration redemption Questions to Reflect On - How does art affect your mood? - Which art form heals you most? A Different Perspective Art may not address deeper systemic issues. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Art](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/art/) [Art therapy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/art-therapy/) [Artist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/artist/) [Comfort](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/comfort/) [Help](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/help/) [Inspiration](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/inspiration/) [Mental health](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mental-health/) [Therapy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/therapy/) ## Related quotes > [“The British Association of Art Therapists defines art therapy as: ...a form of psychotherapy that uses art media as its primary mode of communication.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wikipedia/the-british-association-of-art-therapists-defines-art-therapy-as-a/) [Wikipedia](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wikipedia/) > [When we go all over the world and observe art therapy, it's used frequently with people who are having some kind of depression, or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-pence/when-we-go-all-over-the-world-and-observe-art-therapy-it-s-used/) [Karen Pence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-pence/) > [I believe that art is a tool and that, like all tools, it has functions. I also think it is important to know what…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alain-de-botton/i-believe-that-art-is-a-tool-and-that-like-all-tools-it-has-functions/) [Alain de Botton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alain-de-botton/) > [Artists used to argue about art for art's sake versus social realism etc, and now it's like the most dominate argument is related to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lee-klein/artists-used-to-argue-about-art-for-art-s-sake-versus-social-realism/) [Lee Klein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lee-klein/) > [You can't argue that you have to have art, and prove it to anybody. Why should I give $1,000 to art when there are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dakin-matthews/you-can-t-argue-that-you-have-to-have-art-and-prove-it-to-anybody-why/) [Dakin Matthews](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dakin-matthews/) > [In magic we have a variety of "uses" for our art beyond magic itself, which reminds me of the notion of art therapy. The…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/derren-brown/in-magic-we-have-a-variety-of-uses-for-our-art-beyond-magic-itself/) [Derren Brown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/derren-brown/) > [When contemplating a shield that would protect America for incoming missiles, Democrats suddenly became hardheaded fiscal conservatives. For the first time in recorded history,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ann-coulter/when-contemplating-a-shield-that-would-protect-america-for-incoming/) [Ann Coulter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ann-coulter/) > [The essential argument in the book, 'Art as Therapy,' is that art enjoys such financial and cultural prestige that it's easy to forget the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alain-de-botton/the-essential-argument-in-the-book-art-as-therapy-is-that-art-enjoys/) [Alain de Botton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alain-de-botton/) > [Art is a tool by which society extends its perception.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arne-glimcher/art-is-a-tool-by-which-society-extends-its-perception/) [Arne Glimcher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arne-glimcher/) > [I like making art that's useful to people who have a harder road. Art is a tool to get through it; it's a tool…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-cameron-mitchell/i-like-making-art-that-s-useful-to-people-who-have-a-harder-road-art/) [John Cameron Mitchell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-cameron-mitchell/) > [My body is my art, and it's also the tool that I use to make money.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sasha-grey/my-body-is-my-art-and-it-s-also-the-tool-that-i-use-to-make-money/) [Sasha Grey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sasha-grey/) > [Often much of my work is very optimistic, or solution-based. I have always believed that art is a tool for transformation, and something that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pedro-reyes/often-much-of-my-work-is-very-optimistic-or-solution-based-i-have/) [Pedro Reyes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pedro-reyes/) > [Art is a tool that isnt used enough to effect change.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mattias-klum/art-is-a-tool-that-isnt-used-enough-to-effect-change/) Mattias Klum > [Photography is the first art wherein the tool does most of the work.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-updike/photography-is-the-first-art-wherein-the-tool-does-most-of-the-work/) [John Updike](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-updike/) > [All the art for Tool is done by the me and the band.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adam-jones/all-the-art-for-tool-is-done-by-the-me-and-the-band/) [Adam Jones](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adam-jones/) ## More by Alain de Botton > [“To be mature is, we're told, to move beyond possessiveness. Jealousy is for babies. The mature person knows that no one owns anyone.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alain-de-botton/to-be-mature-is-we-re-told-to-move-beyond-possessiveness-jealousy-is/) [Alain de Botton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alain-de-botton/) > [“He feared that by leaving her he would ruin her life - so he stayed, and did just that.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alain-de-botton/he-feared-that-by-leaving-her-he-would-ruin-her-life-so-he-stayed-and/) [Alain de Botton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alain-de-botton/) > [You have to be quite heavily invested in someone to do them the honour of telling them you're annoyed with them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alain-de-botton/you-have-to-be-quite-heavily-invested-in-someone-to-do-them-the/) [Alain de Botton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alain-de-botton/) > [“The Anxiety of Sunday afternoon: your unlived lives and infinite possibility pressing upon the constraints of reality.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alain-de-botton/the-anxiety-of-sunday-afternoon-your-unlived-lives-and-infinite/) [Alain de Botton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alain-de-botton/) > [Those who divorce aren't necessarily the most unhappy, just those neatly able to believe their misery is caused by one other person.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alain-de-botton/those-who-divorce-aren-t-necessarily-the-most-unhappy-just-those/) [Alain de Botton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alain-de-botton/) > [“We could not be fulfilled if we weren't inauthentic some of the time—inauthentic, that is, in relation to such things as our passing desires…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alain-de-botton/we-could-not-be-fulfilled-if-we-weren-t-inauthentic-some-of-the-time/) [Alain de Botton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alain-de-botton/) > [“Insofar as we appreciate order, it is when we perceive it as being accompanied by complexity, when we feel that a variety of elements…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alain-de-botton/insofar-as-we-appreciate-order-it-is-when-we-perceive-it-as-being/) [Alain de Botton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alain-de-botton/) > [I like the values associated with a medical family - common sense, being practical but also thoughtful.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alain-de-botton/i-like-the-values-associated-with-a-medical-family-common-sense-being/) [Alain de Botton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alain-de-botton/) > [“Anyone who urgently needs us deserves, in the true book of love, to be our friend.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alain-de-botton/anyone-who-urgently-needs-us-deserves-in-the-true-book-of-love-to-be/) [Alain de Botton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alain-de-botton/) > [“We can then recognize that we invented religions to serve two central needs which continue to this day and which secular society has not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alain-de-botton/we-can-then-recognize-that-we-invented-religions-to-serve-two-central/) [Alain de Botton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alain-de-botton/) > [“Half the ingratitude and complacency in the world down to how slowly and imperceptibly most good and bad things unfold.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alain-de-botton/half-the-ingratitude-and-complacency-in-the-world-down-to-how-slowly/) [Alain de Botton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alain-de-botton/) > [It is perhaps when our lives are at their most problematic that we are likely to be most receptive to beautiful things.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alain-de-botton/it-is-perhaps-when-our-lives-are-at-their-most-problematic-that-we/) [Alain de Botton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alain-de-botton/) > [“Does what is praised becomes better? Does an emerald become worse if it isn't praised? And what a gold, ivory, a flower or a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alain-de-botton/does-what-is-praised-becomes-better-does-an-emerald-become-worse-if/) [Alain de Botton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alain-de-botton/) > [The bourgeois thinkers of the eighteenth century thus turned Aristotle's formula on its head: satisfactions which the Greek philosopher had identified with leisure were…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alain-de-botton/the-bourgeois-thinkers-of-the-eighteenth-century-thus-turned/) [Alain de Botton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alain-de-botton/) > [Reputation matters so much only because people so seldom think for themselves.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alain-de-botton/reputation-matters-so-much-only-because-people-so-seldom-think-for/) [Alain de Botton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alain-de-botton/) [Explore all 850 Alain de Botton quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alain-de-botton/) ## More Art 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/) > [Before Noah, men having only water to drink, could not find the truth. Accordingly...they became abominably wicked, and they were justly exterminated by the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-franklin/before-noah-men-having-only-water-to-drink-could-not-find-the-truth/) [Benjamin Franklin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-franklin/) > [“Hear the sum of the whole matter in the compass of one brief word — every art possessed by man comes from Prometheus.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aeschylus/hear-the-sum-of-the-whole-matter-in-the-compass-of-one-brief-word/) [Aeschylus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aeschylus/) > [I think most artists feel like they're outside society - no matter how many accolades they receive, or how much money is in your…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aaron-rose/i-think-most-artists-feel-like-they-re-outside-society-no-matter-how/) [Aaron Rose](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aaron-rose/) > [The capacity to be puzzled is the premise of all creation, be it in art or in science.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erich-fromm/the-capacity-to-be-puzzled-is-the-premise-of-all-creation-be-it-in/) [Erich Fromm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erich-fromm/) > [That's the great secret of creativity. You treat ideas like cats: you make them follow you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ray-bradbury/that-s-the-great-secret-of-creativity-you-treat-ideas-like-cats-you/) [Ray Bradbury](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ray-bradbury/) > [“So, really," continued Jacob as if this were perfectly normal to expound on art in these circumstances, "when you think about it, the artists…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/justina-chen-headley/so-really-continued-jacob-as-if-this-were-perfectly-normal-to-expound/) [Justina Chen Headley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/justina-chen-headley/) > [“There are two options in art; either to adopt philosophical life by dissecting art, or to write your own philosophical life and claim it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/taf-teh/there-are-two-options-in-art-either-to-adopt-philosophical-life-by/) Taf Teh > [The house has to serve comfort. The work of art is revolutionary; the house is conservative.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adolf-loos/the-house-has-to-serve-comfort-the-work-of-art-is-revolutionary-the/) [Adolf Loos](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adolf-loos/) > [During human progress, every science is evolved out of its corresponding art.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herbert-spencer/during-human-progress-every-science-is-evolved-out-of-its/) [Herbert Spencer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herbert-spencer/) > [In literature and art memory is a synonym for invention. It is the life-blood of imagination, which faints and dies when the veins are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-aris-willmott/in-literature-and-art-memory-is-a-synonym-for-invention-it-is-the/) [Robert Aris Willmott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-aris-willmott/) > [I think a business guy is different from an artist. They walk different paths. Artists create the best outputs when they're having fun. And…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/g-dragon/i-think-a-business-guy-is-different-from-an-artist-they-walk/) [G-Dragon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/g-dragon/) > [“The only thing--I tell you this straight from the heart--that disgusts me in Salzburg is that one can't have any proper social intercourse with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wolfgang-amadeus-mozart/the-only-thing-i-tell-you-this-straight-from-the-heart-that-disgusts/) [Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wolfgang-amadeus-mozart/) > [The sublime in art is the attempt to express the infinite without finding in the realm of phenomena any object which proves itself fitting…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/georg-wilhelm-friedrich-hegel/the-sublime-in-art-is-the-attempt-to-express-the-infinite-without/) [Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/georg-wilhelm-friedrich-hegel/) > [Art isn't done to decorate apartments, but to wage war against the enemy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pablo-picasso/art-isn-t-done-to-decorate-apartments-but-to-wage-war-against-the/) [Pablo Picasso](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pablo-picasso/) [Browse all 48,643 Art quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/art/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "In 'Art as Therapy', we argue that art is a tool that can variously help to inspire, console, redeem, guide, comfort, expand and reawaken us.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Alain de Botton" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alain-de-botton/in-art-as-therapy-we-argue-that-art-is-a-tool-that-can-variously-help/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Art" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alain-de-botton/in-art-as-therapy-we-argue-that-art-is-a-tool-that-can-variously-help/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/946/alain-de-botton-221_art_in-art-as-therapy-we-argue-that-art-is-a_1974457.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/946/alain-de-botton-221_art_in-art-as-therapy-we-argue-that-art-is-a_1974457.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/946/alain-de-botton-221_art_in-art-as-therapy-we-argue-that-art-is-a_1974457.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“In 'Art as Therapy', we argue that art is a tool that can variously help to inspire, console, redeem, guide…” — Alain de Botton", "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": "Alain de Botton", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alain-de-botton/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "In 'Art as Therapy', we argue...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alain-de-botton/in-art-as-therapy-we-argue-that-art-is-a-tool-that-can-variously-help/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alain-de-botton/in-art-as-therapy-we-argue-that-art-is-a-tool-that-can-variously-help/#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 } } ] } ```