--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Art has always had as its test in the…" description: "\"Art has always had as its test in the long term the ability to speak to our innermost selves.\" — Bill Viola" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/192/bill-viola-14184_ability_art-has-always-had-as-its-test-in-the-lo_1267752.png" --- # Art has always had as its test in the long term the… ![“Art has always had as its test in the long term the ability to speak to our innermost selves.” quote by Bill Viola](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/192/bill-viola-14184_ability_art-has-always-had-as-its-test-in-the-lo_1267752.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/192/bill-viola-14184_ability_art-has-always-had-as-its-test-in-the-lo_1267752.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/192/bill-viola-14184_ability_art-has-always-had-as-its-test-in-the-lo_1267752.png) > “Art has always had as its test in the long term the ability to speak to our innermost selves.” [Bill Viola](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-viola/) ## 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 ultimate test is its power to resonate deeply with our inner selves over time. **In simple terms:** Art must touch the soul. Key Takeaway Create work that speaks to core emotions. Themes art self‑reflection timelessness Mood introspective evocative Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - gallery exhibitions - personal journaling - therapy - education Key Concepts aesthetics psychology Questions to Reflect On - What inner feelings does a piece of art evoke in you? - How can art help you understand yourself? A Different Perspective Art may be misunderstood initially. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Ability](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ability/) [Ability to speak](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ability-to-speak/) [Art](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/art/) [Art Test](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/art-test-4052770/) [Artist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/artist/) [Innermost Selves](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/innermost-selves-2805621/) [Long](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/long/) [Long term](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/long-term/) [Self](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/self/) [Selves](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/selves/) [Serendipity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/serendipity/) [Speak](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/speak/) [Speak Innermost](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/speak-innermost-4052771/) [Term](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/term/) [Tests](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/tests/) ## Related quotes > [“People often reveal their innermost selves in the most innocent of situations.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abhishek-ratna/people-often-reveal-their-innermost-selves-in-the-most-innocent-of/) [Abhishek Ratna](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abhishek-ratna/) > [People should be beautiful in every way - in their faces, in the way they dress, in their thoughts, and in their innermost selves.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anton-chekhov/people-should-be-beautiful-in-every-way-in-their-faces-in-the-way/) [Anton Chekhov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anton-chekhov/) > [The truth is that works of art test the spectator much more than the spectator tests them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lawren-harris/the-truth-is-that-works-of-art-test-the-spectator-much-more-than-the/) [Lawren Harris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lawren-harris/) > [If we examine every stage of our lives, we find that from our first breath to our last we are under the constraint of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/if-we-examine-every-stage-of-our-lives-we-find-that-from-our-first/) [Johann Wolfgang von Goethe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/) > [The ability to speak exactly is intimately related to the ability to know exactly.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wendell-berry/the-ability-to-speak-exactly-is-intimately-related-to-the-ability-to/) [Wendell Berry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wendell-berry/) > [The proof of a high education is the ability to speak about complex matters as simply as possible.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/the-proof-of-a-high-education-is-the-ability-to-speak-about-complex/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [The ability to speak well is the shortcut to distinction.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dale-carnegie/the-ability-to-speak-well-is-the-shortcut-to-distinction/) [Dale Carnegie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dale-carnegie/) > [Micromessaging -- communicating with other human beings through visual, audible, sublingual means, no doubt predates our ability to speak. We actually read micromessages quite…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-young/micromessaging-communicating-with-other-human-beings-through-visual/) [Stephen Young](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-young/) > [Musical ability is not an inborn talent but an ability which can be developed. Any child who is properly trained can develop musical ability…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shinichi-suzuki/musical-ability-is-not-an-inborn-talent-but-an-ability-which-can-be/) [Shinichi Suzuki](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shinichi-suzuki/) > [An important United Nations environmental conference went past 6:00 in the evening when the interpreters' contracted working conditions said they could leave. They left,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-yergin/an-important-united-nations-environmental-conference-went-past-6-00/) [Daniel Yergin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniel-yergin/) > [The true test of a man's spirituality is not his ability to speak, as we are apt to think, but rather his ability to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/r-kent-hughes/the-true-test-of-a-man-s-spirituality-is-not-his-ability-to-speak-as/) [R. Kent Hughes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/r-kent-hughes/) > [ I think there was a lot of working out the arc of how Manny \[Daniel Radcliffe\] talks. Scene to scene \[in the Swiss army… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-dano/i-think-there-was-a-lot-of-working-out-the-arc-of-how-manny-daniel/) [Paul Dano](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-dano/) > [Most Muslim women know it is fear and curiosity that cause people to stare. They know it is ignorance and stereotypes that cause people…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/randa-abdel-fattah/most-muslim-women-know-it-is-fear-and-curiosity-that-cause-people-to/) [Randa Abdel-Fattah](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/randa-abdel-fattah/) > [While we generally believe in free speech and giving everyone as much ability to speak as possible, in practice there are lots of barriers…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-zuckerberg/while-we-generally-believe-in-free-speech-and-giving-everyone-as-much/) [Mark Zuckerberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-zuckerberg/) > [The ability to speak does not make you intelligent.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-lucas/the-ability-to-speak-does-not-make-you-intelligent/) [George Lucas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-lucas/) ## More by Bill Viola > [Because we live in an industrialized, fast-paced world that prefers that the soul remain asleep.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-viola/because-we-live-in-an-industrialized-fast-paced-world-that-prefers/) [Bill Viola](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-viola/) > [I hope we'll be able to see that in our lifetime: the end of the camera! When I'm in Paris, I'll buy a big…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-viola/i-hope-we-ll-be-able-to-see-that-in-our-lifetime-the-end-of-the/) [Bill Viola](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-viola/) > [There's another world out there just beyond the world we're in. It's just on the other side of that translucent, semitransparent surface.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-viola/there-s-another-world-out-there-just-beyond-the-world-we-re-in-it-s/) [Bill Viola](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-viola/) > [When you're making video, you're giving structure to time, which is what a composer does.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-viola/when-you-re-making-video-you-re-giving-structure-to-time-which-is/) [Bill Viola](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-viola/) > [In the mid- to late '60s to the mid-'70s, when I was a student, there was a major change in the thinking about what…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-viola/in-the-mid-to-late-60s-to-the-mid-70s-when-i-was-a-student-there-was/) [Bill Viola](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-viola/) > [The human brain is probably one of the most complex single objects on the face of the earth; I think it is, quite honestly.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-viola/the-human-brain-is-probably-one-of-the-most-complex-single-objects-on/) [Bill Viola](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-viola/) > [Video artists being at the low end of the totem pole economically, one of the ways we survive is to go around showing work…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-viola/video-artists-being-at-the-low-end-of-the-totem-pole-economically-one/) [Bill Viola](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-viola/) > [I spend a lot of time writing. I get inspiration from texts rather than images.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-viola/i-spend-a-lot-of-time-writing-i-get-inspiration-from-texts-rather/) [Bill Viola](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-viola/) > [The future art historians are going to be software guys who are going to go into the depths of the code to find out…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-viola/the-future-art-historians-are-going-to-be-software-guys-who-are-going/) [Bill Viola](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-viola/) > [Art is, for me, the process of trying to wake up the soul. Because we live in an industrialized, fast-paced world that prefers that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-viola/art-is-for-me-the-process-of-trying-to-wake-up-the-soul-because-we/) [Bill Viola](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-viola/) > [In the 1970s, a lot of critics didn't understand video. I got a lot of bad reviews. But film-makers didn't understand what we were…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-viola/in-the-1970s-a-lot-of-critics-didn-t-understand-video-i-got-a-lot-of/) [Bill Viola](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-viola/) > [This thing called the camera, that takes everything in equally, taught me a lot about how to see.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-viola/this-thing-called-the-camera-that-takes-everything-in-equally-taught/) [Bill Viola](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-viola/) > [I cry a lot. Usually once a day. I think it's one of the most profound forms of human expression.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-viola/i-cry-a-lot-usually-once-a-day-i-think-it-s-one-of-the-most-profound/) [Bill Viola](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-viola/) > [You are just as qualified as any expert to make a judgment and have a feeling or a response to any work of art.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-viola/you-are-just-as-qualified-as-any-expert-to-make-a-judgment-and-have-a/) [Bill Viola](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-viola/) > [If you look at landscape in historical terms, you realize that most of the time we have been on Earth as a species, what…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-viola/if-you-look-at-landscape-in-historical-terms-you-realize-that-most-of/) [Bill Viola](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-viola/) [Explore all 47 Bill Viola quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-viola/) ## More Ability quotes > [I don't think there's a direct correlation between my sexuality and my skiing ability. But I think because I was so concerned about it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gus-kenworthy/i-don-t-think-there-s-a-direct-correlation-between-my-sexuality-and/) [Gus Kenworthy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gus-kenworthy/) > [“the importance of ability. The things that make a great job great, I discovered, are rare and valuable. If you want them in your…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cal-newport/the-importance-of-ability-the-things-that-make-a-great-job-great-i/) [Cal Newport](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cal-newport/) > [Ambition drives you on, ability certainly helps, but the fickle finger of fate and luck are great things.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fergus-henderson/ambition-drives-you-on-ability-certainly-helps-but-the-fickle-finger/) [Fergus Henderson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fergus-henderson/) > [The ability of the gospel to unite us on common strengths and common truths is one of the great miracles . . . of the gospel.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeffrey-r-holland/the-ability-of-the-gospel-to-unite-us-on-common-strengths-and-common/) [Jeffrey R. Holland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeffrey-r-holland/) > [Maybe law enforcement would like the ability to turn on the camera on your Mac.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tim-cook/maybe-law-enforcement-would-like-the-ability-to-turn-on-the-camera-on/) [Tim Cook](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tim-cook/) > [I've seen guys come along with more ability - they've been faster or bigger or stronger - but they never worked hard to develop…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-largent/i-ve-seen-guys-come-along-with-more-ability-they-ve-been-faster-or/) [Steve Largent](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-largent/) > [The youth of India has the strength to move the entire World with a click of a mouse, we have generated that ability!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/narendra-modi/the-youth-of-india-has-the-strength-to-move-the-entire-world-with-a/) [Narendra Modi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/narendra-modi/) > [Time hath not yet so dried this blood of mine, Nor age so eat up my invention, Nor fortune made such havoc of my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/time-hath-not-yet-so-dried-this-blood-of-mine-nor-age-so-eat-up-my/) [William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/) > [An absolutely necessary part of a writer's equipment, almost as necessary as talent, is the ability to stand up under punishment, both the punishment…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/irwin-shaw/an-absolutely-necessary-part-of-a-writer-s-equipment-almost-as/) [Irwin Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/irwin-shaw/) > [I'd be more frightened by not using whatever abilities I'd been given. I'd be more frightened by procrastination and laziness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/denzel-washington/i-d-be-more-frightened-by-not-using-whatever-abilities-i-d-been-given/) [Denzel Washington](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/denzel-washington/) > [Bring into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ. Take what I cannot give: my heart, body, thoughts, time, abilities, money, health, strength,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-prentiss/bring-into-captivity-every-thought-to-the-obedience-of-christ-take/) [Elizabeth Prentiss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-prentiss/) > [You can only do the work to the very best of your ability.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christine-baranski/you-can-only-do-the-work-to-the-very-best-of-your-ability/) [Christine Baranski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christine-baranski/) > [Judge a person not by his ability to make money but by his ability to retain it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vikrant-parsai/judge-a-person-not-by-his-ability-to-make-money-but-by-his-ability-to/) [Vikrant Parsai](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vikrant-parsai/) > [Balance is the ability to be happy in the midst of the most chaotic or even boring or transient circumstance.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/balance-is-the-ability-to-be-happy-in-the-midst-of-the-most-chaotic/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [Bobby had faith in my ability as a singer.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julie-london/bobby-had-faith-in-my-ability-as-a-singer/) [Julie London](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julie-london/) [Browse all 9,990 Ability quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ability/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Art has always had as its test in the long term the ability to speak to our innermost selves.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Bill Viola" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-viola/art-has-always-had-as-its-test-in-the-long-term-the-ability-to-speak/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Ability" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-viola/art-has-always-had-as-its-test-in-the-long-term-the-ability-to-speak/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/192/bill-viola-14184_ability_art-has-always-had-as-its-test-in-the-lo_1267752.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/192/bill-viola-14184_ability_art-has-always-had-as-its-test-in-the-lo_1267752.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/192/bill-viola-14184_ability_art-has-always-had-as-its-test-in-the-lo_1267752.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Art has always had as its test in the long term the ability to speak to our innermost selves.” — Bill Viola", "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": "Bill Viola", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-viola/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Art has always had as its...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-viola/art-has-always-had-as-its-test-in-the-long-term-the-ability-to-speak/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-viola/art-has-always-had-as-its-test-in-the-long-term-the-ability-to-speak/#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 } } ] } ```