--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Does this raise or lower, then, the…" description: "\"“Does this raise or lower, then, the everyday importance of art? Does something which exists on the edge have no true relevance to the stable center, o..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/308/ann-patchett-670_art_does-this-raise-or-lower-then-the-everyd_1655059.jpg" --- # Does this raise or lower, then, the everyday importance of… ![“Does this raise or lower, then, the everyday importance of art? Does something which exists on the edge have no true relevance to the stable center, or does it, by being on the edge, become a part of the edge and thus a part of the boundary, the definition which gives the whole its shape?…” quote by Ann Patchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/308/ann-patchett-670_art_does-this-raise-or-lower-then-the-everyd_1655059.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/308/ann-patchett-670_art_does-this-raise-or-lower-then-the-everyd_1655059.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/308/ann-patchett-670_art_does-this-raise-or-lower-then-the-everyd_1655059.jpg) > ““Does this raise or lower, then, the everyday importance of art? Does something which exists on the edge have no true relevance to the stable center, or does it, by being on the edge, become a part of the edge and thus a part of the boundary, the definition which gives the whole its shape? (excerpted letter from Lucy Grealy)”” [Ann Patchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ann-patchett/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Art at the margins questions the core, shaping the whole’s definition and relevance. **In simple terms:** Edge art defines the center. Key Takeaway Value peripheral perspectives. Themes art boundary definition influence Mood thoughtful inquisitive Type artistic philosophical When to use this quote - museum curation - educational curricula - public art projects - critical essays Key Concepts aesthetics philosophy cultural theory Questions to Reflect On - Why do we fear the unknown in art? - How can institutions elevate edge voices? A Different Perspective Marginal art may be dismissed by mainstream audiences. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Art](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/art/) [Artist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/artist/) [Boundary](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/boundary/) [Boundary Definition](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/boundary-definition-697233/) [Edge Boundary](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/edge-boundary-697232/) [Exists Edge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/exists-edge-697234/) [Importance Art](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/importance-art-697231/) [Importance Of Art](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/importance-of-art-216118/) ## Related quotes > [Does something which exists on the edge have no true relevance to the stable center, or does it, by being on the edge, become…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lucy-grealy/does-something-which-exists-on-the-edge-have-no-true-relevance-to-the/) [Lucy Grealy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lucy-grealy/) > [“When was the last time an American president found it worth his while to write a speech on the importance of art and literature?…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/viet-thanh-nguyen/when-was-the-last-time-an-american-president-found-it-worth-his-while/) [Viet Thanh Nguyen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/viet-thanh-nguyen/) > [The romance of the old West vanished so fast and so few ever did anything with it. Does it make you realize the importance…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laura-gilpin/the-romance-of-the-old-west-vanished-so-fast-and-so-few-ever-did/) [Laura Gilpin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laura-gilpin/) > [“The same thing is true of the experience of art. Here the scholarly research pursued by the "science of art" is aware from the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hans-georg-gadamer/the-same-thing-is-true-of-the-experience-of-art-here-the-scholarly/) [Hans-Georg Gadamer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hans-georg-gadamer/) > [“The subjectivist approach to art simply fails to understand that the subjective experience of art in itself is meaningless, and that in order to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/theodor-w-adorno/the-subjectivist-approach-to-art-simply-fails-to-understand-that-the/) [Theodor W. Adorno](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/theodor-w-adorno/) > [Growing up in a traditional environment, I was taught the importance of art, how it's connected to the soul, how it makes a human…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-horse/growing-up-in-a-traditional-environment-i-was-taught-the-importance/) [Michael Horse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-horse/) > [The importance of art is in the process of doing it, in the learning experience where the artist interacts with whatever is being made.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roy-lichtenstein/the-importance-of-art-is-in-the-process-of-doing-it-in-the-learning/) [Roy Lichtenstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roy-lichtenstein/) > [Now, given the increasing importance of artificial intelligence, automation, machine learning, and other innovative technologies, we are evolving Accenture Digital to be even more…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pierre-nanterme/now-given-the-increasing-importance-of-artificial-intelligence/) [Pierre Nanterme](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pierre-nanterme/) > [“There are other noteworthy characteristics of this rock art style: Anthropomorphs without headdresses instead sport horns, or antennae, or a series of concentric circles.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amy-irvine/there-are-other-noteworthy-characteristics-of-this-rock-art-style/) [Amy Irvine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amy-irvine/) > [Although I do not care for the slogan "art for art's sake", there can be no question that what makes a work of fiction…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vladimir-nabokov/although-i-do-not-care-for-the-slogan-art-for-art-s-sake-there-can-be/) [Vladimir Nabokov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vladimir-nabokov/) > [It is of the highest importance in the art of detection to be able to recognise out of a number of facts which are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-conan-doyle/it-is-of-the-highest-importance-in-the-art-of-detection-to-be-able-to/) [Arthur Conan Doyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-conan-doyle/) > [Technique does not constitute art. Nor is it a vague, fuzzy romantic quality known as ‘beauty,’ remote from the realities of everyday life. It…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/grant-wood/technique-does-not-constitute-art-nor-is-it-a-vague-fuzzy-romantic/) [Grant Wood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/grant-wood/) > [“what makes a work of fiction safe from larvae and rust is not its social importance but its art, only its art”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vladimir-nabokov/what-makes-a-work-of-fiction-safe-from-larvae-and-rust-is-not-its/) [Vladimir Nabokov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vladimir-nabokov/) > [Gradually, ... the aspect of science as knowledge is being thrust into the background by the aspect of science as the power of manipulating…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bertrand-russell/gradually-the-aspect-of-science-as-knowledge-is-being-thrust-into-the/) [Bertrand Russell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bertrand-russell/) > [Believe in the importance of your art.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/theodora-goss/believe-in-the-importance-of-your-art/) [Theodora Goss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/theodora-goss/) ## More by Ann Patchett > [She sang as if she was saving the life of every person in the room.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ann-patchett/she-sang-as-if-she-was-saving-the-life-of-every-person-in-the-room/) [Ann Patchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ann-patchett/) > [If I had problems, I kept them to myself. I didn't make a scene.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ann-patchett/if-i-had-problems-i-kept-them-to-myself-i-didn-t-make-a-scene/) [Ann Patchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ann-patchett/) > [I can't write the book I want to write, but I can and will write the book I am capable of writing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ann-patchett/i-can-t-write-the-book-i-want-to-write-but-i-can-and-will-write-the/) [Ann Patchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ann-patchett/) > [“Without worry to protect me, every thought that came into my mind received real attention.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ann-patchett/without-worry-to-protect-me-every-thought-that-came-into-my-mind/) [Ann Patchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ann-patchett/) > [“I wrote the last sentence of The Patron Saint of Liars in early April and stumbled out of my apartment and into the beautiful…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ann-patchett/i-wrote-the-last-sentence-of-the-patron-saint-of-liars-in-early-april/) [Ann Patchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ann-patchett/) > [“In the future, he will try to say her name enough, but he never can.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ann-patchett/in-the-future-he-will-try-to-say-her-name-enough-but-he-never-can/) [Ann Patchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ann-patchett/) > [My novels are very much the same, as I think many people's novels are.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ann-patchett/my-novels-are-very-much-the-same-as-i-think-many-people-s-novels-are/) [Ann Patchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ann-patchett/) > [“He was in love, and never had he felt such kindness towards another person.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ann-patchett/he-was-in-love-and-never-had-he-felt-such-kindness-towards-another/) [Ann Patchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ann-patchett/) > [“Gen was sleeping the sleep of the heavily drugged.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ann-patchett/gen-was-sleeping-the-sleep-of-the-heavily-drugged/) [Ann Patchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ann-patchett/) > [If I was a waitress, I was too tired at the end of the day when I came home to try to write.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ann-patchett/if-i-was-a-waitress-i-was-too-tired-at-the-end-of-the-day-when-i-came/) [Ann Patchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ann-patchett/) > [“She didn't know how to hate her mother yet, but every time she left her father crying in the airport she came that much…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ann-patchett/she-didn-t-know-how-to-hate-her-mother-yet-but-every-time-she-left/) [Ann Patchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ann-patchett/) > [“When you think of love you think as an American. You must think like a Russian. It is a more expansive view.' 'Americans havea…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ann-patchett/when-you-think-of-love-you-think-as-an-american-you-must-think-like-a/) [Ann Patchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ann-patchett/) > [“...Nebraska was white, a page as still as fallen snow. It was not crosshatched with roads, overrun with the hard lines of interstate systems.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ann-patchett/nebraska-was-white-a-page-as-still-as-fallen-snow-it-was-not/) [Ann Patchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ann-patchett/) > [“Clearly he needed a father, but some other father, any other father, would have been preferable.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ann-patchett/clearly-he-needed-a-father-but-some-other-father-any-other-father/) [Ann Patchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ann-patchett/) > [“I don't have any talent for vacations.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ann-patchett/i-don-t-have-any-talent-for-vacations/) [Ann Patchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ann-patchett/) [Explore all 413 Ann Patchett quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ann-patchett/) ## 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](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/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": "“Does this raise or lower, then, the everyday importance of art? Does something which exists on the edge have no true relevance to the stable center, or does it, by being on the edge, become a part of the edge and thus a part of the boundary, the definition which gives the whole its shape? (excerpted letter from Lucy Grealy)”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Ann Patchett" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ann-patchett/does-this-raise-or-lower-then-the-everyday-importance-of-art-does/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Art" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ann-patchett/does-this-raise-or-lower-then-the-everyday-importance-of-art-does/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/308/ann-patchett-670_art_does-this-raise-or-lower-then-the-everyd_1655059.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/308/ann-patchett-670_art_does-this-raise-or-lower-then-the-everyd_1655059.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/308/ann-patchett-670_art_does-this-raise-or-lower-then-the-everyd_1655059.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Does this raise or lower, then, the everyday importance of art? Does something which exists on the edge have…” — Ann Patchett", "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": "Ann Patchett", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ann-patchett/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“Does this raise or lower, then,...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ann-patchett/does-this-raise-or-lower-then-the-everyday-importance-of-art-does/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ann-patchett/does-this-raise-or-lower-then-the-everyday-importance-of-art-does/#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 } } ] } ```