--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: In its vulgar way, a painstaking piece of…" description: "\"“In its vulgar way, a painstaking piece of work, although one must always remember—something often forgotten today—that because things are generally kn..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ebf/anthony-powell-2659_art_in-its-vulgar-way-a-painstaking-piece-of_713271.jpg" --- # In its vulgar way, a painstaking piece of work, although… ![“In its vulgar way, a painstaking piece of work, although one must always remember—something often forgotten today—that because things are generally known, they are not necessarily the better for being written down, or publicly announced. Some are, some aren't. As in everything else, good sense…” quote by Anthony Powell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ebf/anthony-powell-2659_art_in-its-vulgar-way-a-painstaking-piece-of_713271.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ebf/anthony-powell-2659_art_in-its-vulgar-way-a-painstaking-piece-of_713271.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ebf/anthony-powell-2659_art_in-its-vulgar-way-a-painstaking-piece-of_713271.jpg) > ““In its vulgar way, a painstaking piece of work, although one must always remember—something often forgotten today—that because things are generally known, they are not necessarily the better for being written down, or publicly announced. Some are, some aren't. As in everything else, good sense, taste, art, all have their place. Saying you prefer to disregard art, taste, good sense, does not mean that those elements do not exist—it merely means you lack them yourself”” [Anthony Powell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-powell/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The quote warns that just because something is widely known or published doesn’t guarantee its quality; discernment is needed to separate value from noise. **In simple terms:** Fame doesn’t equal quality; discernment matters. Key Takeaway Cultivate personal taste and critical judgment. Themes knowledge quality discerning art taste Mood reflective critical thoughtful Type philosophical observational When to use this quote - reading reviews - curating content - evaluating trends - making artistic choices Key Concepts epistemology aesthetics critical thinking Questions to Reflect On - How do you decide what information is truly valuable? - When might you trust popular opinion? A Different Perspective Not all widely shared ideas are valuable; popularity can mask mediocrity. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Art](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/art/) [Artist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/artist/) [Good sense](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/good-sense/) ## Related quotes > [Knowledge is devalued when it becomes too generally known](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-m-disch/knowledge-is-devalued-when-it-becomes-too-generally-known/) [Thomas M. Disch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-m-disch/) > [Although it is generally known, I think it's about time to announce that I was born at a very early age.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douglas-horton/although-it-is-generally-known-i-think-it-s-about-time-to-announce/) [Douglas Horton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douglas-horton/) > [Nothing is more generally known than our duties which belong to Christianity; and yet, how amazing is it, nothing is less practiced?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-whitefield/nothing-is-more-generally-known-than-our-duties-which-belong-to/) [George Whitefield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-whitefield/) > [It's one of those things where we generally love filming 'Miz and Mrs.'](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maryse-mizanin/it-s-one-of-those-things-where-we-generally-love-filming-miz-and-mrs/) [Maryse Mizanin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maryse-mizanin/) > [“There is a great deal more to be got out of things than is generally got out of them, whether the thing be a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-macdonald/there-is-a-great-deal-more-to-be-got-out-of-things-than-is-generally/) [George MacDonald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-macdonald/) > [Having enough to eat, being able to educate your children, have reasonably stable employment, and being able to live in a society which isn't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-george/having-enough-to-eat-being-able-to-educate-your-children-have/) [Susan George](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-george/) > [... strange things may be generally accounted for if their cause be fairly seached out.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-austen/strange-things-may-be-generally-accounted-for-if-their-cause-be/) [Jane Austen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-austen/) > [Art has nothing to do with taste. Art is not there to be tasted](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/max-ernst/art-has-nothing-to-do-with-taste-art-is-not-there-to-be-tasted/) [Max Ernst](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/max-ernst/) > [The difference between Cals taste in art and mine is that I have some. Theyre fascinating. Its like being inside a dream or something.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rose/the-difference-between-cals-taste-in-art-and-mine-is-that-i-have-some/) [Rose](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rose/) > [If we wish to unfold the mind in our children we do not leave them to their own uncultivated taste in all these things,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-webster-leadbeater/if-we-wish-to-unfold-the-mind-in-our-children-we-do-not-leave-them-to/) [Charles Webster Leadbeater](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-webster-leadbeater/) > [I've got a very wide taste in art. I like Russian icon painters. I like Salvador Dali. It's like music. Sometimes you want to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-webber/i-ve-got-a-very-wide-taste-in-art-i-like-russian-icon-painters-i-like/) [Peter Webber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-webber/) > [A good taste in art feels the presence or the absence of merit; a just taste discriminates the degree--the poco piu and the poco…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anna-brownell-jameson/a-good-taste-in-art-feels-the-presence-or-the-absence-of-merit-a-just/) [Anna Brownell Jameson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anna-brownell-jameson/) > [It became a question of taste. I have a certain taste in art history. And that - I had a huge library of art…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kehinde-wiley/it-became-a-question-of-taste-i-have-a-certain-taste-in-art-history/) [Kehinde Wiley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kehinde-wiley/) > [I am a great lover of art, in many forms: paintings, objets, textiles. I don't have the talent for painting, but I have a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacqueline-bisset/i-am-a-great-lover-of-art-in-many-forms-paintings-objets-textiles-i/) [Jacqueline Bisset](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacqueline-bisset/) > [Conceptual relativism is a heady and exotic doctrine, or would be if we could make good sense of it. The trouble is, as so…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donald-davidson/conceptual-relativism-is-a-heady-and-exotic-doctrine-or-would-be-if/) [Donald Davidson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donald-davidson/) ## More by Anthony Powell > [I was impressed for the ten thousandth time by the fact that literature illuminates life only for those to whom books are a necessity.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-powell/i-was-impressed-for-the-ten-thousandth-time-by-the-fact-that/) [Anthony Powell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-powell/) > [“Like everything that's any good, it has about twenty different meanings.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-powell/like-everything-that-s-any-good-it-has-about-twenty-different-meanings/) [Anthony Powell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-powell/) > [“I have absolutely no histrionic talent, none at all, a constitutional handicap in almost all undertakings of life;but then, after all, plenty of actors…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-powell/i-have-absolutely-no-histrionic-talent-none-at-all-a-constitutional/) [Anthony Powell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-powell/) > [“The crematorium was a blaze of sunshine.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-powell/the-crematorium-was-a-blaze-of-sunshine/) [Anthony Powell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-powell/) > [Parents. . . are sometimes a bit of a disappointment to their children. They don't fulfil the promise of their early years.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-powell/parents-are-sometimes-a-bit-of-a-disappointment-to-their-children/) [Anthony Powell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-powell/) > [“Her expression was oafish, but it was on the whole this quality that gave her face a certain retentive efficacy. She had the look…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-powell/her-expression-was-oafish-but-it-was-on-the-whole-this-quality-that/) [Anthony Powell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-powell/) > [“Enormous simplifications were possibly necessary to carry a deeper truth than lay on the surface of a mass of unsorted detail.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-powell/enormous-simplifications-were-possibly-necessary-to-carry-a-deeper/) [Anthony Powell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-powell/) > [“I hate anything superficial. But I will take the book and look at it, and tell you what I think of the writing.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-powell/i-hate-anything-superficial-but-i-will-take-the-book-and-look-at-it/) [Anthony Powell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-powell/) > [“It is rather an occasion, darling,’ said Moreland, vexed at these objections. ‘After all, I am noted among composers for the smallness of my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-powell/it-is-rather-an-occasion-darling-said-moreland-vexed-at-these/) [Anthony Powell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-powell/) > [“There seemed no particular object in avoiding banality from the start, as the evening showed every sign of developing into a banal one.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-powell/there-seemed-no-particular-object-in-avoiding-banality-from-the-start/) [Anthony Powell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-powell/) > [Dinner at the Huntercombes possessed only two dramatic features: the wine was a farce and the food a tragedy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-powell/dinner-at-the-huntercombes-possessed-only-two-dramatic-features-the/) [Anthony Powell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-powell/) > [“Even then I did not recognise the quest for power.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-powell/even-then-i-did-not-recognise-the-quest-for-power/) [Anthony Powell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-powell/) > [“Some of the best of us are quite unambitious.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-powell/some-of-the-best-of-us-are-quite-unambitious/) [Anthony Powell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-powell/) > [One passes through the world knowing few, if any, of the important things about even the people with whom one has been from time…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-powell/one-passes-through-the-world-knowing-few-if-any-of-the-important/) [Anthony Powell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-powell/) > [“He stood pondering this flat, forthright declaration of anti-simianism on Miss Weedon’s part. The notion that some people might not like monkeys was evidently…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-powell/he-stood-pondering-this-flat-forthright-declaration-of-anti-simianism/) [Anthony Powell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-powell/) [Explore all 156 Anthony Powell quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-powell/) ## 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 its vulgar way, a painstaking piece of work, although one must always remember—something often forgotten today—that because things are generally known, they are not necessarily the better for being written down, or publicly announced. 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