--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: W]hat makes a work of art ‘good’ for you…" description: "\"W]hat makes a work of art ‘good’ for you is not something that is already ‘inside’ it, but something that happens inside you.\" — Brian Eno" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b49/brian-eno-776_art_w-hat-makes-a-work-of-art-good-for-you-i_2773482.jpg" --- # W\]hat makes a work of art ‘good’ for you is not something… ![“W]hat makes a work of art ‘good’ for you is not something that is already ‘inside’ it, but something that happens inside you.” quote by Brian Eno](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b49/brian-eno-776_art_w-hat-makes-a-work-of-art-good-for-you-i_2773482.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b49/brian-eno-776_art_w-hat-makes-a-work-of-art-good-for-you-i_2773482.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b49/brian-eno-776_art_w-hat-makes-a-work-of-art-good-for-you-i_2773482.jpg) > “W\]hat makes a work of art ‘good’ for you is not something that is already ‘inside’ it, but something that happens inside you.” [Brian Eno](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brian-eno/) ## 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 value lies in the personal transformation it triggers, not in inherent qualities. **In simple terms:** Art is valuable when it changes you. Key Takeaway Seek art that moves you internally. Themes art experience subjectivity Mood contemplative inspirational Type philosophical analytical When to use this quote - museum visits - creative workshops - daily reflection Key Concepts aesthetic theory personal perception Questions to Reflect On - What does “good” art feel like to you? - How can you cultivate internal responses? A Different Perspective Some may argue technical skill also matters. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Art](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/art/) [Art Good](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/art-good/) [Artist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/artist/) [Good Inside](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/good-inside-749812/) [Happens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/happens/) [Happens Inside](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/happens-inside-397217/) [Hat Makes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hat-makes-2736251/) [Hats](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hats/) [Inspirational](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/inspirational/) [Work Art](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/work-art/) [Works of art](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/works-of-art/) ## Related quotes > [A work of art is good if it has arisen out of necessity. That is the only way one can judge it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rainer-maria-rilke/a-work-of-art-is-good-if-it-has-arisen-out-of-necessity-that-is-the/) [Rainer Maria Rilke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rainer-maria-rilke/) > [Stop thinking about art works as objects, and start thinking about them as triggers for experiences... That solves a lot of problems ... Art…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brian-eno/stop-thinking-about-art-works-as-objects-and-start-thinking-about/) [Brian Eno](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brian-eno/) > [ART Art is that thing having to do only with itself—the product of a successful attempt to make a work of art. Unfortunately, there…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-safran-foer/art-art-is-that-thing-having-to-do-only-with-itself-the-product-of-a/) [Jonathan Safran Foer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-safran-foer/) > [People get to like a soul, but a satisfactory hat makes an impression at first sight.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pearl-mary-teresa-craigie/people-get-to-like-a-soul-but-a-satisfactory-hat-makes-an-impression/) [Pearl Mary Teresa Craigie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pearl-mary-teresa-craigie/) > [The personality of the wearer and the hat makes the hat.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-treacy/the-personality-of-the-wearer-and-the-hat-makes-the-hat/) [Philip Treacy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-treacy/) > [How a hat makes you feel is what a hat is all about.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-treacy/how-a-hat-makes-you-feel-is-what-a-hat-is-all-about/) [Philip Treacy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-treacy/) > [I empathise with the fact that people want to look their best. A hat is all about how it makes you feel - it's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-treacy/i-empathise-with-the-fact-that-people-want-to-look-their-best-a-hat/) [Philip Treacy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-treacy/) > [A work of art doesn't exist outside the perception of the audience.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abbas-kiarostami/a-work-of-art-doesn-t-exist-outside-the-perception-of-the-audience/) [Abbas Kiarostami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abbas-kiarostami/) > [We have nothing to lose, nothing to gain, nothing we desired anymore- except to make our lives into a work of art.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lana-del-rey/we-have-nothing-to-lose-nothing-to-gain-nothing-we-desired-anymore/) [Lana Del Rey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lana-del-rey/) > [All art is at once surface and symbol. Those who go beneath the surface do so at their peril. Those who read the symbol…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oscar-wilde/all-art-is-at-once-surface-and-symbol-those-who-go-beneath-the/) [Oscar Wilde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oscar-wilde/) > [A work of art is itself an object, first of all, and so manipulation is unavoidable: it's a prerequisite. But I needed the greater…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gerhard-richter/a-work-of-art-is-itself-an-object-first-of-all-and-so-manipulation-is/) [Gerhard Richter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gerhard-richter/) > [Mystery is the essential element of every work of art.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/luis-bunuel/mystery-is-the-essential-element-of-every-work-of-art/) [Luis Bunuel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/luis-bunuel/) > [Art goes on in your head. If you said something interesting, that might be a title for a work of art and I'd write…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/damien-hirst/art-goes-on-in-your-head-if-you-said-something-interesting-that-might/) [Damien Hirst](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/damien-hirst/) > [The ultimate justification of the work of art is to help the spectator to become a work of art himself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bernard-berenson/the-ultimate-justification-of-the-work-of-art-is-to-help-the/) [Bernard Berenson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bernard-berenson/) > [Society takes what it wants. The artist himself does not count, because there is no actual existence for the work of art. The work…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-duchamp/society-takes-what-it-wants-the-artist-himself-does-not-count-because/) [Marcel Duchamp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcel-duchamp/) ## More by Brian Eno > [I have lived in countries that were coming out of conflict: Ireland, South Africa, the Czech republic. People there are overflowing with energy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brian-eno/i-have-lived-in-countries-that-were-coming-out-of-conflict-ireland/) [Brian Eno](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brian-eno/) > [The lyrics are constructed as empirically as the music. I don't set out to say anything very important.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brian-eno/the-lyrics-are-constructed-as-empirically-as-the-music-i-don-t-set/) [Brian Eno](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brian-eno/) > [Admirers can be a tremendous force for conservatism.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brian-eno/admirers-can-be-a-tremendous-force-for-conservatism/) [Brian Eno](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brian-eno/) > [The whole history of pop music had rested on the first person singular, with occasional intrusions of the second person singular.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brian-eno/the-whole-history-of-pop-music-had-rested-on-the-first-person/) [Brian Eno](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brian-eno/) > [You can't really imagine music without technology.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brian-eno/you-can-t-really-imagine-music-without-technology/) [Brian Eno](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brian-eno/) > [Robert Fripp and I will be recording another LP very soon. It should be even more monotonous than the first one!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brian-eno/robert-fripp-and-i-will-be-recording-another-lp-very-soon-it-should/) [Brian Eno](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brian-eno/) > [I despise computers in many ways. I think they’re hopelessly underevolved and overrated.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brian-eno/i-despise-computers-in-many-ways-i-think-they-re-hopelessly/) [Brian Eno](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brian-eno/) > [I think very often producers are really trying to repeat things. When they hear something in the new songs that they recognize as being…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brian-eno/i-think-very-often-producers-are-really-trying-to-repeat-things-when/) [Brian Eno](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brian-eno/) > [I think that's very significant that we're so attached to the idea now of - it was something I advocated for years, that you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brian-eno/i-think-that-s-very-significant-that-we-re-so-attached-to-the-idea/) [Brian Eno](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brian-eno/) > [If you watch any good player, they're using different parts of their body and working with instruments that respond to those movements. They're moving…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brian-eno/if-you-watch-any-good-player-they-re-using-different-parts-of-their/) [Brian Eno](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brian-eno/) > [Songs that don't depend on composition depend instead on performance - so the fire has to be there in the playing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brian-eno/songs-that-don-t-depend-on-composition-depend-instead-on-performance/) [Brian Eno](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brian-eno/) > [I can see the use and value of religion, just as I can see the use of mud wrestling, yoga, astronomy and sadomasochism. but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brian-eno/i-can-see-the-use-and-value-of-religion-just-as-i-can-see-the-use-of/) [Brian Eno](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brian-eno/) > [I wanted to get rid of the element that had been considered essential in pop music: the voice.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brian-eno/i-wanted-to-get-rid-of-the-element-that-had-been-considered-essential/) [Brian Eno](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brian-eno/) > [At the beginning of the 20th century, the ambition of the great painters was to make paintings that were like music, which was then…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brian-eno/at-the-beginning-of-the-20th-century-the-ambition-of-the-great/) [Brian Eno](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brian-eno/) > [I had an interesting day. I was in the studio with a group of musicians, who shall remain nameless, and I said to them…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brian-eno/i-had-an-interesting-day-i-was-in-the-studio-with-a-group-of/) [Brian Eno](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brian-eno/) [Explore all 373 Brian Eno quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brian-eno/) ## 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": "W]hat makes a work of art ‘good’ for you is not something that is already ‘inside’ it, but something that happens inside you.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Brian Eno" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brian-eno/w-hat-makes-a-work-of-art-good-for-you-is-not-something-that-is/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Art" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brian-eno/w-hat-makes-a-work-of-art-good-for-you-is-not-something-that-is/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b49/brian-eno-776_art_w-hat-makes-a-work-of-art-good-for-you-i_2773482.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b49/brian-eno-776_art_w-hat-makes-a-work-of-art-good-for-you-i_2773482.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b49/brian-eno-776_art_w-hat-makes-a-work-of-art-good-for-you-i_2773482.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“W]hat makes a work of art ‘good’ for you is not something that is already ‘inside’ it, but something that…” — Brian Eno", "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": "Brian Eno", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brian-eno/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "W]hat makes a work of art...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brian-eno/w-hat-makes-a-work-of-art-good-for-you-is-not-something-that-is/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brian-eno/w-hat-makes-a-work-of-art-good-for-you-is-not-something-that-is/#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 } } ] } ```