---
title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: They say all art—whether books, music, or…"
description: "\"“They say all art—whether books, music, or visual—is a reaction to other art, and I believe that to be true.”\" — Blake Crouch"
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/090/blake-crouch-2197_art_they-say-all-art-whether-books-music-or_1825082.png"
---

#  They say all art—whether books, music, or visual—is a…

![“They say all art—whether books, music, or visual—is a reaction to other art, and I believe that to be true.” quote by Blake Crouch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/090/blake-crouch-2197_art_they-say-all-art-whether-books-music-or_1825082.png)   [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/090/blake-crouch-2197_art_they-say-all-art-whether-books-music-or_1825082.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/090/blake-crouch-2197_art_they-say-all-art-whether-books-music-or_1825082.png)

> ““They say all art—whether books, music, or visual—is a reaction to other art, and I believe that to be true.””

[Blake Crouch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/blake-crouch/)

## About This Quote

This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation.

Art continually references previous works, creating a dialogue across mediums.

**In simple terms:** Art is a conversation with past art.

Key Takeaway

Recognize and build on artistic influences.

Themes

art influence creativity

Mood

analytical inquisitive

Type

critical theoretical

When to use this quote

- writing workshops
- museum curation
- media criticism

Key Concepts

intertextuality cultural dialogue creative process

Questions to Reflect On

- How does intertextuality enrich new works?
- Can art be truly original?

A Different Perspective

Originality may be overstated.

★ ★ ★ ★ ★   No ratings yet

[Art](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/art/) [Artist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/artist/) [Books](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/books/) [Music](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/music/)

## Related quotes

> [“They say all art—whether books, music, or visual—is a reaction to other art.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/blake-crouch/they-say-all-art-whether-books-music-or-visual-is-a-reaction-to-other-2/)

[Blake Crouch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/blake-crouch/)

> [An idea is our visual reaction to something seen - in real life, in our memory, in our imagination, in our dreams.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anna-held/an-idea-is-our-visual-reaction-to-something-seen-in-real-life-in-our/)

[Anna Held](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anna-held/)

> [What is love? In math, its problem. In history, its war. In science, its reaction. In art, its heart. In me, its you .](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/what-is-love-in-math-its-problem-in-history-its-war-in-science-its/)

[Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/)

> [Whats LOVE? in math: A problem \_ in history: A war \_ in chemistry: A reaction \_ in art: A heart \_ in me: YOU :)](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cut-e-thea/whats-love-in-math-a-problem-in-history-a-war-in-chemistry-a-reaction/)

Cut!E\_thEa

> [“In the twentieth century, one encounters artworks that seek to cancel the difference between a real and an imagined reality by presenting themselves in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/niklas-luhmann/in-the-twentieth-century-one-encounters-artworks-that-seek-to-cancel/)

[Niklas Luhmann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/niklas-luhmann/)

> [Maybe this is a utopian view of art but I do believe that art can function as a vehicle, that it isn't just a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/antony-gormley/maybe-this-is-a-utopian-view-of-art-but-i-do-believe-that-art-can/)

[Antony Gormley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/antony-gormley/)

> [I am committed to my art. I believe that all art has as its ultimate goal the union between the material and the spiritual,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-jackson/i-am-committed-to-my-art-i-believe-that-all-art-has-as-its-ultimate/)

[Michael Jackson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-jackson/)

> [There is no purity with regards to the marketplace and art, I believe.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kehinde-wiley/there-is-no-purity-with-regards-to-the-marketplace-and-art-i-believe/)

[Kehinde Wiley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kehinde-wiley/)

> [I believe in God, Mozart and Beethoven, and likewise their disciples and apostles; - I believe in the Holy Spirit and the truth of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-wagner/i-believe-in-god-mozart-and-beethoven-and-likewise-their-disciples/)

[Richard Wagner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-wagner/)

> [Acting for me is not a business, it's about trying to make pieces of art that I believe that I feel proud of. And…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicole-kidman/acting-for-me-is-not-a-business-it-s-about-trying-to-make-pieces-of/)

[Nicole Kidman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicole-kidman/)

> [I don't believe in art. I believe in artists.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-duchamp/i-don-t-believe-in-art-i-believe-in-artists/)

[Marcel Duchamp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcel-duchamp/)

> [Everything will be art and nothing will be art, because everything, as I believe, already is.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andy-warhol/everything-will-be-art-and-nothing-will-be-art-because-everything-as/)

[Andy Warhol](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andy-warhol/)

> [I don't think you have to struggle to make good art. I think you have to be passionate to make good art. You have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-martin/i-don-t-think-you-have-to-struggle-to-make-good-art-i-think-you-have/)

[Chris Martin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-martin/)

> [It is necessary that... we should believe that we are as capable of producing great art as we believe we are capable of doing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-lismer/it-is-necessary-that-we-should-believe-that-we-are-as-capable-of/)

[Arthur Lismer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-lismer/)

> [Look at someone like Kanye West - ego is the death of a lot of art. To believe in yourself that much is to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jamie-hewlett/look-at-someone-like-kanye-west-ego-is-the-death-of-a-lot-of-art-to/)

[Jamie Hewlett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jamie-hewlett/)

## More by Blake Crouch

> [“Just because you’re paranoid doesn’t mean they aren’t after you. - Joseph Heller”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/blake-crouch/just-because-you-re-paranoid-doesn-t-mean-they-aren-t-after-you/)

[Blake Crouch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/blake-crouch/)

> [“Eyes you can fall into and keep falling.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/blake-crouch/eyes-you-can-fall-into-and-keep-falling/)

[Blake Crouch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/blake-crouch/)

> [“It’s also the manifestation of everyone’s existential question: Am I who I was supposed to be? Is this the life I was meant to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/blake-crouch/it-s-also-the-manifestation-of-everyone-s-existential-question-am-i/)

[Blake Crouch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/blake-crouch/)

> [“It will occur to him months from now that if this had been a movie, he wouldn’t have done it. Wouldn’t have sunk to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/blake-crouch/it-will-occur-to-him-months-from-now-that-if-this-had-been-a-movie-he/)

[Blake Crouch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/blake-crouch/)

> [“Daniela hasn’t worn perfume in years, but she’s wearing it tonight, and she smells like Daniela without me, like Daniela before our separate scents…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/blake-crouch/daniela-hasn-t-worn-perfume-in-years-but-she-s-wearing-it-tonight-and/)

[Blake Crouch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/blake-crouch/)

> [“a little comb to brush her luxurious red hair.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/blake-crouch/a-little-comb-to-brush-her-luxurious-red-hair/)

[Blake Crouch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/blake-crouch/)

> [“Are you losing your mind? You tell me. I can’t. Why? Because I am you.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/blake-crouch/are-you-losing-your-mind-you-tell-me-i-can-t-why-because-i-am-you/)

[Blake Crouch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/blake-crouch/)

> [“And a second thank you to my genius editor, Julian Pavia, who pushed me as hard as I’ve ever been pushed and made this…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/blake-crouch/and-a-second-thank-you-to-my-genius-editor-julian-pavia-who-pushed-me/)

[Blake Crouch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/blake-crouch/)

> [“Good.” She smiles. “Then I’ll postpone freaking out.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/blake-crouch/good-she-smiles-then-i-ll-postpone-freaking-out/)

[Blake Crouch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/blake-crouch/)

> [I love to read the kind of books I write. Genre-breaking. Fresh-concept. World-building. My all-time top three authors would have to be Cormac McCarthy,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/blake-crouch/i-love-to-read-the-kind-of-books-i-write-genre-breaking-fresh-concept/)

[Blake Crouch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/blake-crouch/)

> [Love means home. It's where you're meant to be.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/blake-crouch/love-means-home-it-s-where-you-re-meant-to-be/)

[Blake Crouch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/blake-crouch/)

> [“He worries she’s going to ask what happened. Why he isn’t dead. It’s a question he’s been dreading and preparing for all day.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/blake-crouch/he-worries-she-s-going-to-ask-what-happened-why-he-isn-t-dead-it-s-a/)

[Blake Crouch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/blake-crouch/)

> [“What a miracle it is to have people to come home to every day. To be loved. To be expected.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/blake-crouch/what-a-miracle-it-is-to-have-people-to-come-home-to-every-day-to-be/)

[Blake Crouch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/blake-crouch/)

> [“Before I built a wall I’d ask to know what I was walling in, or walling out.’ Robert Frost wrote that.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/blake-crouch/before-i-built-a-wall-i-d-ask-to-know-what-i-was-walling-in-or/)

[Blake Crouch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/blake-crouch/)

> [“Most astrophysicists believe that the force holding stars and galaxies together—the thing that makes our whole universe work—comes from a theoretical substance we can’t…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/blake-crouch/most-astrophysicists-believe-that-the-force-holding-stars-and/)

[Blake Crouch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/blake-crouch/)

[Explore all 177 Blake Crouch quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/blake-crouch/)

## 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": "“They say all art—whether books, music, or visual—is a reaction to other art, and I believe that to be true.”",
            "creator": {
                "@type": "Person",
                "name": "Blake Crouch"
            },
            "isPartOf": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website"
            },
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/blake-crouch/they-say-all-art-whether-books-music-or-visual-is-a-reaction-to-other/",
            "about": {
                "@type": "Thing",
                "name": "Art"
            },
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/blake-crouch/they-say-all-art-whether-books-music-or-visual-is-a-reaction-to-other/#quotation",
            "image": {
                "@type": "ImageObject",
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/090/blake-crouch-2197_art_they-say-all-art-whether-books-music-or_1825082.png",
                "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/090/blake-crouch-2197_art_they-say-all-art-whether-books-music-or_1825082.png",
                "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/090/blake-crouch-2197_art_they-say-all-art-whether-books-music-or_1825082.png",
                "width": 1080,
                "height": 1080,
                "caption": "“They say all art—whether books, music, or visual—is a reaction to other art, and I believe that to be true.” — Blake Crouch",
                "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": "Blake Crouch",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/blake-crouch/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 4,
                    "name": "“They say all art—whether books, music,...",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/blake-crouch/they-say-all-art-whether-books-music-or-visual-is-a-reaction-to-other/"
                }
            ],
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/blake-crouch/they-say-all-art-whether-books-music-or-visual-is-a-reaction-to-other/#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
            }
        }
    ]
}
```
