--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Who would dare assign to art the sterile…" description: "\"Who would dare assign to art the sterile function of imitating nature?\" — Charles Baudelaire" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/263/charles-baudelaire-473_art_who-would-dare-assign-to-art-the-sterile_9408.jpg" --- # Who would dare assign to art the sterile function of… ![“Who would dare assign to art the sterile function of imitating nature?” quote by Charles Baudelaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/263/charles-baudelaire-473_art_who-would-dare-assign-to-art-the-sterile_9408.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/263/charles-baudelaire-473_art_who-would-dare-assign-to-art-the-sterile_9408.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/263/charles-baudelaire-473_art_who-would-dare-assign-to-art-the-sterile_9408.jpg) > “Who would dare assign to art the sterile function of imitating nature?” [Charles Baudelaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-baudelaire/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Challenges the notion that art merely copies nature, urging a view of art as an autonomous, creative force. **In simple terms:** Art isn’t just imitation. Key Takeaway Art should create, not replicate. Themes creativity autonomy art vs nature philosophy of art Mood provocative inquisitive Type philosophical critical When to use this quote - art criticism - creative education - artist self‑reflection Key Concepts aesthetic theory originality Practical Applications - defining artistic purpose - guiding curriculum design Questions to Reflect On - What does it mean for art to have its own function? - How does this view affect artistic practice? ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Art](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/art/) [Art Sterile](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/art-sterile-352440/) [Artist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/artist/) [Assign Art](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/assign-art-352441/) [Dare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dare/) [Function](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/function/) [Imitating](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/imitating/) [Imitating Nature](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/imitating-nature-352439/) [Nature](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nature/) [Sterile](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sterile/) ## Related quotes > [No art can be grafted with success on another art. For though they all profess the same origin, and to proceed from the same…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joshua-reynolds/no-art-can-be-grafted-with-success-on-another-art-for-though-they-all/) [Joshua Reynolds](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joshua-reynolds/) > [The secret of Greek Art is its imitation of nature even to the minutest details; whereas the secret of Indian Art is to represent…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/swami-vivekananda/the-secret-of-greek-art-is-its-imitation-of-nature-even-to-the/) [Swami Vivekananda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/swami-vivekananda/) > [“This gesture is one of the motifs of modernity's turn against the principle of imitating nature, that is to say, imitating predefined morphological expectations.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-sloterdijk/this-gesture-is-one-of-the-motifs-of-modernity-s-turn-against-the/) [Peter Sloterdijk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-sloterdijk/) > [In philosophical inquiry, the human spirit, imitating the movement of the stars, must follow a curve which brings it back to its point of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-baudelaire/in-philosophical-inquiry-the-human-spirit-imitating-the-movement-of/) [Charles Baudelaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-baudelaire/) > [“Alex snorted as he packed the wound with sticky rice. "Is that stuff sterile?" Ted asked, staring at Alex. "They boil it, don't they?"…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eileen-rendahl/alex-snorted-as-he-packed-the-wound-with-sticky-rice-is-that-stuff/) [Eileen Rendahl](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eileen-rendahl/) > [People have taken technology so far, to the point where music is almost sterile these days.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ryan-ross/people-have-taken-technology-so-far-to-the-point-where-music-is/) [Ryan Ross](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ryan-ross/) > [Nothing is more costly, nothing is more sterile, than vengeance.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/winston-churchill/nothing-is-more-costly-nothing-is-more-sterile-than-vengeance/) [Winston Churchill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/winston-churchill/) > [The Tanzanian government recognised there is a problem: that they don't have enough sterile syringes, that they are being reused probably four or five…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marc-koska/the-tanzanian-government-recognised-there-is-a-problem-that-they-don/) [Marc Koska](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marc-koska/) > [I wouldn't live in California. All that sun makes you sterile.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-alda/i-wouldn-t-live-in-california-all-that-sun-makes-you-sterile/) [Alan Alda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-alda/) > [The images of Earth's delicate biosphere, contrasting with the sterile moonscape where the astronauts left their footsteps, have become iconic for environmentalists: these may…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-rees/the-images-of-earth-s-delicate-biosphere-contrasting-with-the-sterile/) [Martin Rees](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-rees/) > [“If you cannot attract a woman, you are, by definition, sterile.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mystery2/if-you-cannot-attract-a-woman-you-are-by-definition-sterile/) [Mystery2](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mystery2/) > [Knowledge without courage is sterile.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/knowledge-without-courage-is-sterile/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Traditional nursing facilities are sterile institutions rather than homes - which is why many Americans do not want to live in one or want…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/risa-lavizzo-mourey/traditional-nursing-facilities-are-sterile-institutions-rather-than/) [Risa Lavizzo-Mourey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/risa-lavizzo-mourey/) > [The sterile, arid environment created by truly jarring and discordant signage and gargantuan billboards is a turnoff.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-katz/the-sterile-arid-environment-created-by-truly-jarring-and-discordant/) [Jonathan Katz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-katz/) > [Nothing is more sterile or lamentable than the man content to live within himself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harold-pinter/nothing-is-more-sterile-or-lamentable-than-the-man-content-to-live/) [Harold Pinter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harold-pinter/) ## More by Charles Baudelaire > [“The greatest trick the Devil ever pulled was convincing the world he didn’t exist”—Charles Baudelaire “The second greatest trick the Devil ever pulled was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-baudelaire/the-greatest-trick-the-devil-ever-pulled-was-convincing-the-world-he/) [Charles Baudelaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-baudelaire/) > [“This life is a hospital in which each patient is possessed by the desire to change beds. One wants to suffer in front of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-baudelaire/this-life-is-a-hospital-in-which-each-patient-is-possessed-by-the/) [Charles Baudelaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-baudelaire/) > [There is no such thing as a long piece of work, except one that you dare not start.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-baudelaire/there-is-no-such-thing-as-a-long-piece-of-work-except-one-that-you/) [Charles Baudelaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-baudelaire/) > [Our religion is itself profoundly sad - a religion of universal anguish, and one which, because of its very catholicity, grants full liberty to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-baudelaire/our-religion-is-itself-profoundly-sad-a-religion-of-universal-anguish/) [Charles Baudelaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-baudelaire/) > [But the true voyagers are only those who leave Just to be leaving; hearts light, like balloons, They never turn aside from their fatality…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-baudelaire/but-the-true-voyagers-are-only-those-who-leave-just-to-be-leaving/) [Charles Baudelaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-baudelaire/) > [Amer savoir, celui qu'on tire du voyage! Bitter is the knowledge gained in travelling.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-baudelaire/amer-savoir-celui-qu-on-tire-du-voyage-bitter-is-the-knowledge-gained/) [Charles Baudelaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-baudelaire/) > [“Car je cherche le vide, el le noir, el le nu!”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-baudelaire/car-je-cherche-le-vide-el-le-noir-el-le-nu/) [Charles Baudelaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-baudelaire/) > [“I can barely conceive a type of beauty in which there is no melancholy.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-baudelaire/i-can-barely-conceive-a-type-of-beauty-in-which-there-is-no-melancholy/) [Charles Baudelaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-baudelaire/) > [The vices of man, as full of horror as one might suppose them to be, contain the proof (if in nothing else but their…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-baudelaire/the-vices-of-man-as-full-of-horror-as-one-might-suppose-them-to-be/) [Charles Baudelaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-baudelaire/) > [Multitude, solitude: equal and interchangeable terms for the active and prolific poet.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-baudelaire/multitude-solitude-equal-and-interchangeable-terms-for-the-active-and/) [Charles Baudelaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-baudelaire/) > [Any healthy man can go without food for two days - but not without poetry.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-baudelaire/any-healthy-man-can-go-without-food-for-two-days-but-not-without/) [Charles Baudelaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-baudelaire/) > [Drink wine, drink poetry, drink virtue.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-baudelaire/drink-wine-drink-poetry-drink-virtue/) [Charles Baudelaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-baudelaire/) > [Man loves man so much that when he flees the city, it is still to seek the crowd, that is, to rebuild the city…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-baudelaire/man-loves-man-so-much-that-when-he-flees-the-city-it-is-still-to-seek/) [Charles Baudelaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-baudelaire/) > [“—But why is she weeping? She, the perfect beauty, Who could put at her feet the conquered human race, What secret malady gnaws at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-baudelaire/but-why-is-she-weeping-she-the-perfect-beauty-who-could-put-at-her/) [Charles Baudelaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-baudelaire/) > [Beauty is the sole ambition, the exclusive goal of Taste.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-baudelaire/beauty-is-the-sole-ambition-the-exclusive-goal-of-taste/) [Charles Baudelaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-baudelaire/) [Explore all 454 Charles Baudelaire quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-baudelaire/) ## 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. 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