--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I have always thought that art is not a…" description: "\"“I have always thought that art is not a category, not a realm covering innumerable concepts and derivative phenomena, but that, on the contrary, it is..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/572/boris-pasternak-1944_art_i-have-always-thought-that-art-is-not-a_2264901.jpg" --- # I have always thought that art is not a category, not a… ![“I have always thought that art is not a category, not a realm covering innumerable concepts and derivative phenomena, but that, on the contrary, it is something concentrated, strictly limited. It is a principle that is present in every work of art, a force applied to it and a truth worked out in…” quote by Boris Pasternak](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/572/boris-pasternak-1944_art_i-have-always-thought-that-art-is-not-a_2264901.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/572/boris-pasternak-1944_art_i-have-always-thought-that-art-is-not-a_2264901.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/572/boris-pasternak-1944_art_i-have-always-thought-that-art-is-not-a_2264901.jpg) > ““I have always thought that art is not a category, not a realm covering innumerable concepts and derivative phenomena, but that, on the contrary, it is something concentrated, strictly limited. It is a principle that is present in every work of art, a force applied to it and a truth worked out in it. And I have never seen art as form but rather as a hidden, secret part of content…A literary creation can appeal to us in all sorts of ways—by its theme, subject, situations, characters. But above all it appeals to us by the presence in it of art...You can call it an idea, a statement about life, so all-embracing that it can’t be split up into separate words; and if there is so much as a particle of it in any work that includes other things as well, it outweighs all the other ingredients in significance and turns out to be the essence, the heart and soul of the work.”” [Boris Pasternak](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/boris-pasternak/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Art is the concentrated, underlying principle that gives a work its essential meaning, surpassing form and other elements. **In simple terms:** Art is the hidden core that defines a work’s true impact. Key Takeaway Seek the essential artistic force in any creation. Themes art essence meaning creativity interpretation Mood contemplative inspired introspective Type philosophical critical inspirational When to use this quote - literary analysis - creative writing - art criticism - education - personal reflection Key Concepts aesthetic principle truth heart and soul Questions to Reflect On - How can you identify the core artistic principle in a piece? - What distinguishes art’s essence from its form? A Different Perspective Art may be subjective, making its “essence” hard to define universally. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Art](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/art/) [Art Idea](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/art-idea-738360/) [Artist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/artist/) [Essence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/essence/) [Heart and soul](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/heart-and-soul/) [Literary Creation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/literary-creation-264729/) [Thought](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thought/) [Thought Art](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thought-art-1022015/) ## Related quotes > [A literary creation can appeal to us in all sorts of ways-by its theme, subject, situations, characters. But above all it appeals to us…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/boris-pasternak/a-literary-creation-can-appeal-to-us-in-all-sorts-of-ways-by-its/) [Boris Pasternak](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/boris-pasternak/) > [In art one idea is as good as another.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/willem-de-kooning/in-art-one-idea-is-as-good-as-another/) [Willem de Kooning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/willem-de-kooning/) > [As an artist, it's been clear that the price of art has nothing to do with you, it has to do with an idea…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/liam-gillick/as-an-artist-it-s-been-clear-that-the-price-of-art-has-nothing-to-do/) [Liam Gillick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/liam-gillick/) > [You don't have to have a great art idea - just get to work and something will happen. So that's pretty much my modus…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chuck-close/you-don-t-have-to-have-a-great-art-idea-just-get-to-work-and/) [Chuck Close](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chuck-close/) > [In every painting, as in any other work of art, there is always an IDEA, never a STORY. The idea is the point of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jose-clemente-orozco/in-every-painting-as-in-any-other-work-of-art-there-is-always-an-idea/) [Jose Clemente Orozco](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jose-clemente-orozco/) > [Mozart and Neil Diamond may have begun with the same idea, but that a work of art is more than an idea is confirmed…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-helprin/mozart-and-neil-diamond-may-have-begun-with-the-same-idea-but-that-a/) [Mark Helprin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-helprin/) > [“It’s a urinal! It’s not even the original. The art is in the idea, not the object.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-gompertz/it-s-a-urinal-it-s-not-even-the-original-the-art-is-in-the-idea-not/) [Will Gompertz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-gompertz/) > [“The art is in the idea, not the object.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-art-is-in-the-idea-not-the-object/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [ “Because his \[Damien Hirst\] art is idea art - art drawn on the back of cigarette packets and beer mats, roughed out in airport… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gordon-burn/because-his-damien-hirst-art-is-idea-art-art-drawn-on-the-back-of/) [Gordon Burn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gordon-burn/) > [Inspiration is for amateurs - the rest of us just show up and get to work. And the belief that things will grow out…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chuck-close/inspiration-is-for-amateurs-the-rest-of-us-just-show-up-and-get-to-3/) [Chuck Close](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chuck-close/) > [“Revelation is a literary work composed with astonishing care and skill. We should certainly not doubt that John had remarkable visionary experiences, but he…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-bauckham/revelation-is-a-literary-work-composed-with-astonishing-care-and/) [Richard Bauckham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-bauckham/) > [There's literary creation and literary business. When I first got something accepted, it gave my life a validation it didn't otherwise have.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/raymond-carver/there-s-literary-creation-and-literary-business-when-i-first-got/) [Raymond Carver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/raymond-carver/) > [“Indeed, the Bible has been cast adrift from its moorings and left to float on a sea of modern relativity. The “play” of meanings…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/grant-r-osborne/indeed-the-bible-has-been-cast-adrift-from-its-moorings-and-left-to/) [Grant R. Osborne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/grant-r-osborne/) > [“The sense of literary creation is to portray ordinary objects as they will be reflected in the kindly mirrors of future times; to find…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vladimir-nabokov/the-sense-of-literary-creation-is-to-portray-ordinary-objects-as-they/) [Vladimir Nabokov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vladimir-nabokov/) > [ “It was only much later that he was made flesh and blood \[in the Gospels\] on paper. Thus Christ was created as a literary… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-louis-couchoud/it-was-only-much-later-that-he-was-made-flesh-and-blood-in-the/) [Paul Louis Couchoud](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-louis-couchoud/) ## More by Boris Pasternak > [“Happy are the downtrodden.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/boris-pasternak/happy-are-the-downtrodden/) [Boris Pasternak](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/boris-pasternak/) > [“The saddest thing of all was that their party represented a deviation from the conditions of the time. It was impossible to imagine that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/boris-pasternak/the-saddest-thing-of-all-was-that-their-party-represented-a-deviation/) [Boris Pasternak](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/boris-pasternak/) > [No deep and strong feeling, such as we may come across here and there in the world, is unmixed with compassion. The more we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/boris-pasternak/no-deep-and-strong-feeling-such-as-we-may-come-across-here-and-there/) [Boris Pasternak](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/boris-pasternak/) > [She was here on earth to make sense of its wild enchantments.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/boris-pasternak/she-was-here-on-earth-to-make-sense-of-its-wild-enchantments/) [Boris Pasternak](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/boris-pasternak/) > [Art has two constant, two unending concerns: It always meditates on death and thus always creates life. All great, genuine art resembles and continues…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/boris-pasternak/art-has-two-constant-two-unending-concerns-it-always-meditates-on/) [Boris Pasternak](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/boris-pasternak/) > [I think that if the beast who sleeps in man could be held down by threats of any kind, whether of jail or retribution,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/boris-pasternak/i-think-that-if-the-beast-who-sleeps-in-man-could-be-held-down-by/) [Boris Pasternak](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/boris-pasternak/) > [And so it turned out that only a life similar to the life of those around us, merging with it without a ripple, is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/boris-pasternak/and-so-it-turned-out-that-only-a-life-similar-to-the-life-of-those/) [Boris Pasternak](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/boris-pasternak/) > [I come here to speak poetry. It will always be in the grass. It will also be necessary to bend down to hear it.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/boris-pasternak/i-come-here-to-speak-poetry-it-will-always-be-in-the-grass-it-will/) [Boris Pasternak](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/boris-pasternak/) > [“I'll stay with you a little, my unforgettable delight, for as long as my arms and my hands and my lips remember you. I'll…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/boris-pasternak/i-ll-stay-with-you-a-little-my-unforgettable-delight-for-as-long-as/) [Boris Pasternak](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/boris-pasternak/) > [If it's so painful to love and absorb electricity, how much more painful it is to be a woman, to be the electricity, to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/boris-pasternak/if-it-s-so-painful-to-love-and-absorb-electricity-how-much-more/) [Boris Pasternak](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/boris-pasternak/) > [I don't like purely philosophical works. I think a little philosophy should be added to life and art by way of seasoning, but to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/boris-pasternak/i-don-t-like-purely-philosophical-works-i-think-a-little-philosophy/) [Boris Pasternak](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/boris-pasternak/) > [“But sometimes, to enable her to bear her life, she needed the accompaniment of an inward music and she could not always compose it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/boris-pasternak/but-sometimes-to-enable-her-to-bear-her-life-she-needed-the/) [Boris Pasternak](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/boris-pasternak/) > [“We’ve been lucky. The autumn happened to be dry and warm. We managed to dig the potatoes before the rain and cold set in.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/boris-pasternak/we-ve-been-lucky-the-autumn-happened-to-be-dry-and-warm-we-managed-to/) [Boris Pasternak](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/boris-pasternak/) > [Departure beyond the borders of my country is for me equivalent to death.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/boris-pasternak/departure-beyond-the-borders-of-my-country-is-for-me-equivalent-to/) [Boris Pasternak](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/boris-pasternak/) > [“As he scribbled his odds and ends, he made a note reaffirming his belief that art always serves beauty, and beauty is delight in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/boris-pasternak/as-he-scribbled-his-odds-and-ends-he-made-a-note-reaffirming-his/) [Boris Pasternak](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/boris-pasternak/) [Explore all 189 Boris Pasternak quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/boris-pasternak/) ## 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": "“I have always thought that art is not a category, not a realm covering innumerable concepts and derivative phenomena, but that, on the contrary, it is something concentrated, strictly limited. 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But above all it appeals to us by the presence in it of art...You can call it an idea, a statement about life, so all-embracing that it can’t be split up into separate words; and if there is so much as a particle of it in any work that includes other things as well, it outweighs all the other ingredients in significance and turns out to be the essence, the heart and soul of the work.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Boris Pasternak" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/boris-pasternak/i-have-always-thought-that-art-is-not-a-category-not-a-realm-covering/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Art" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/boris-pasternak/i-have-always-thought-that-art-is-not-a-category-not-a-realm-covering/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/572/boris-pasternak-1944_art_i-have-always-thought-that-art-is-not-a_2264901.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/572/boris-pasternak-1944_art_i-have-always-thought-that-art-is-not-a_2264901.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/572/boris-pasternak-1944_art_i-have-always-thought-that-art-is-not-a_2264901.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“I have always thought that art is not a category, not a realm covering innumerable concepts and derivative…” — Boris Pasternak", "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": "Boris Pasternak", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/boris-pasternak/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“I have always thought that art...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/boris-pasternak/i-have-always-thought-that-art-is-not-a-category-not-a-realm-covering/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/boris-pasternak/i-have-always-thought-that-art-is-not-a-category-not-a-realm-covering/#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 } } ] } ```