--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: No one questions the fact that verbal…" description: "\"No one questions the fact that verbal language has to be learned, but the commonplaceness of visual experience betrays art; people tend to assume that,..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c84/anne-truitt-16251_art_no-one-questions-the-fact-that-verbal-la_2965975.png" --- # No one questions the fact that verbal language has to be… ![“No one questions the fact that verbal language has to be learned, but the commonplaceness of visual experience betrays art; people tend to assume that, because they can see, they can see art.” quote by Anne Truitt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c84/anne-truitt-16251_art_no-one-questions-the-fact-that-verbal-la_2965975.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c84/anne-truitt-16251_art_no-one-questions-the-fact-that-verbal-la_2965975.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c84/anne-truitt-16251_art_no-one-questions-the-fact-that-verbal-la_2965975.png) > “No one questions the fact that verbal language has to be learned, but the commonplaceness of visual experience betrays art; people tend to assume that, because they can see, they can see art.” [Anne Truitt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-truitt/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Visual experience is often taken for granted, leading people to assume seeing automatically equals understanding art. **In simple terms:** Seeing does not guarantee understanding art. Key Takeaway Question assumptions about visual perception. Themes art perception visual literacy misconception Mood reflective critical Type analytical philosophical When to use this quote - museum visits - art education - curation - media criticism Key Concepts Aesthetic theory cognitive bias Questions to Reflect On - How does visual familiarity affect artistic appreciation? - What practices deepen visual understanding? A Different Perspective Visual literacy requires active interpretation, not just seeing. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Art](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/art/) [Artist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/artist/) [Assume Art](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/assume-art-1455917/) [Assuming](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/assuming/) [Betray](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/betray/) [Betrays Art](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/betrays-art-4542342/) [Commonplaceness Visual](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/commonplaceness-visual-4542341/) [Experience Betrays](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/experience-betrays-4542343/) [Facts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/facts/) [Language](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/language/) [People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people/) [Visual Experience](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/visual-experience-924402/) [Visuals](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/visuals/) ## Related quotes > [...assume that art begins in unhappiness. True, the goal of art is to convey a vision of coherence and peace, but the effort to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-adams/assume-that-art-begins-in-unhappiness-true-the-goal-of-art-is-to/) [Robert Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-adams/) > [“It is wrong to assume that art needs the spectator in order to be. The film runs on without any eyes. The spectator cannot…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-morrison/it-is-wrong-to-assume-that-art-needs-the-spectator-in-order-to-be-the/) [Jim Morrison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-morrison/) > [The really great visual experience today is to fly over a huge city and look down into the night. It's like a tremendous jubilant…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gyorgy-kepes/the-really-great-visual-experience-today-is-to-fly-over-a-huge-city/) [Gyorgy Kepes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gyorgy-kepes/) > [To experience visually, and to transform our visual experience into plastic terms, requires the faculty of empathy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hans-hofmann/to-experience-visually-and-to-transform-our-visual-experience-into/) [Hans Hofmann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hans-hofmann/) > [Music is more than words. It's a visual experience, too, and people really feel my music because of the way I move and put…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stromae/music-is-more-than-words-it-s-a-visual-experience-too-and-people/) [Stromae](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stromae/) > [“When we gaze at the world, we do not fathom the many layers of apparatus that underlie our unified visual experience, until neurological disease…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-pinker/when-we-gaze-at-the-world-we-do-not-fathom-the-many-layers-of/) [Steven Pinker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-pinker/) > [VR is a very intense visual experience and having the most powerful PC is the only way to deliver certain experiences.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-zuckerberg/vr-is-a-very-intense-visual-experience-and-having-the-most-powerful/) [Mark Zuckerberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-zuckerberg/) > [If you're going to be a visual artist, then there has to be something in the work that accounts for the possibility of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-tuttle/if-you-re-going-to-be-a-visual-artist-then-there-has-to-be-something/) [Richard Tuttle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-tuttle/) > [The way I sort of approach my work is that the historical and socioeconomic and cultural worlds that the music is exploring dictate the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/todd-haynes/the-way-i-sort-of-approach-my-work-is-that-the-historical-and/) [Todd Haynes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/todd-haynes/) > [A visual experience is vitalizing. Whereas to write great poetry, to draw continuously on one's inner life, is not merely exhausting, it is to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kenneth-clark/a-visual-experience-is-vitalizing-whereas-to-write-great-poetry-to/) [Kenneth Clark](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kenneth-clark/) > [Innate mechanisms endow the visual system with highly specific connections, but visual experience early in life is necessary for their maintenance and full development.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/torsten-wiesel/innate-mechanisms-endow-the-visual-system-with-highly-specific/) [Torsten Wiesel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/torsten-wiesel/) > [Joy doesn't betray but sustains activism. And when you face a politics that aspires to make you fearful, alienated and isolated, joy is a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rebecca-solnit/joy-doesn-t-betray-but-sustains-activism-and-when-you-face-a-politics/) [Rebecca Solnit](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rebecca-solnit/) > [“79. A soul which knows that it is loved, but does not itself love, betrays its sediment: its dregs come up.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/79-a-soul-which-knows-that-it-is-loved-but-does-not-itself-love/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [“Ash,” Mab crooned as he drew near. “My poor boy. Rowan told me what happened between the two of you, but I know you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julie-kagawa/ash-mab-crooned-as-he-drew-near-my-poor-boy-rowan-told-me-what/) [Julie Kagawa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julie-kagawa/) > [Ye youths and virgins, when your generous blood Has drunk the warmth of fifteen summers, now The loves invite; now to new rapture wakes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-armstrong/ye-youths-and-virgins-when-your-generous-blood-has-drunk-the-warmth/) [John Armstrong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-armstrong/) ## More by Anne Truitt > [the more visible my work became, the less visible I grew to myself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-truitt/the-more-visible-my-work-became-the-less-visible-i-grew-to-myself/) [Anne Truitt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-truitt/) > [Our society is monstrously disjunctive, at once so efficient in war and so inefficient in caring for the welfare of its members. It is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-truitt/our-society-is-monstrously-disjunctive-at-once-so-efficient-in-war/) [Anne Truitt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-truitt/) > [“By keeping on being what we most intimately are, we can continually redefine ourselves so that we become what we have not been able…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-truitt/by-keeping-on-being-what-we-most-intimately-are-we-can-continually/) [Anne Truitt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-truitt/) > [In the range of my character at any given moment, I have acted in the only way it seemed to me I could have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-truitt/in-the-range-of-my-character-at-any-given-moment-i-have-acted-in-the/) [Anne Truitt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-truitt/) > [the capacity to work feeds on itself and has its own course of development. This is what artists have going for them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-truitt/the-capacity-to-work-feeds-on-itself-and-has-its-own-course-of/) [Anne Truitt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-truitt/) > [Generosity is often the stalking horse of control.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-truitt/generosity-is-often-the-stalking-horse-of-control/) [Anne Truitt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-truitt/) > [“...it occurred to me that I could use the energy I had been putting into endurance to change my life. Yet the concept of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-truitt/it-occurred-to-me-that-i-could-use-the-energy-i-had-been-putting-into/) [Anne Truitt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-truitt/) > [There is an appalling amount of mechanical work in the artist's life ... Talent is mysterious, but the qualities that guard, foster, and direct…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-truitt/there-is-an-appalling-amount-of-mechanical-work-in-the-artist-s-life/) [Anne Truitt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-truitt/) > [I come to the point of using steel, and simply cannot. It's like the marriage proposal of a perfectly eligible man who just isn't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-truitt/i-come-to-the-point-of-using-steel-and-simply-cannot-it-s-like-the/) [Anne Truitt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-truitt/) > [Art comes into the highest part of the mind, with which we can know the presence of God.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-truitt/art-comes-into-the-highest-part-of-the-mind-with-which-we-can-know/) [Anne Truitt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-truitt/) > [There's a small still center into which conception can arrive. And when it arrives, you make it welcome with your experience.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-truitt/there-s-a-small-still-center-into-which-conception-can-arrive-and/) [Anne Truitt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-truitt/) > [I have slowly come to realize that a family is composed of people who are teaching one another.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-truitt/i-have-slowly-come-to-realize-that-a-family-is-composed-of-people-who/) [Anne Truitt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-truitt/) > [The finest teaching touches in a student a spring neither teacher nor student could possibly have preconceived.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-truitt/the-finest-teaching-touches-in-a-student-a-spring-neither-teacher-nor/) [Anne Truitt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-truitt/) > [I worked in between carpools and buying food and cooking and whatever else I had to do. I lived an outside life, but really…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-truitt/i-worked-in-between-carpools-and-buying-food-and-cooking-and-whatever/) [Anne Truitt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-truitt/) > [When I speak now, my experience in art wells up so articulately that I am surprised even while I am talking. I move around…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-truitt/when-i-speak-now-my-experience-in-art-wells-up-so-articulately-that-i/) [Anne Truitt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-truitt/) [Explore all 40 Anne Truitt quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-truitt/) ## 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": "No one questions the fact that verbal language has to be learned, but the commonplaceness of visual experience betrays art; people tend to assume that, because they can see, they can see art.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Anne Truitt" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-truitt/no-one-questions-the-fact-that-verbal-language-has-to-be-learned-but/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Art" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-truitt/no-one-questions-the-fact-that-verbal-language-has-to-be-learned-but/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c84/anne-truitt-16251_art_no-one-questions-the-fact-that-verbal-la_2965975.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c84/anne-truitt-16251_art_no-one-questions-the-fact-that-verbal-la_2965975.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c84/anne-truitt-16251_art_no-one-questions-the-fact-that-verbal-la_2965975.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“No one questions the fact that verbal language has to be learned, but the commonplaceness of visual…” — Anne Truitt", "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": "Anne Truitt", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-truitt/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "No one questions the fact that...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-truitt/no-one-questions-the-fact-that-verbal-language-has-to-be-learned-but/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-truitt/no-one-questions-the-fact-that-verbal-language-has-to-be-learned-but/#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 } } ] } ```