--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: You cannot set art off in a corner and…" description: "\"You cannot set art off in a corner and hope for it to have vitality, reality, and substance.\" — Charles Ives" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/92f/charles-ives-17391_art_you-cannot-set-art-off-in-a-corner-and-h_1048466.png" --- # You cannot set art off in a corner and hope for it to have… ![“You cannot set art off in a corner and hope for it to have vitality, reality, and substance.” quote by Charles Ives](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/92f/charles-ives-17391_art_you-cannot-set-art-off-in-a-corner-and-h_1048466.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/92f/charles-ives-17391_art_you-cannot-set-art-off-in-a-corner-and-h_1048466.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/92f/charles-ives-17391_art_you-cannot-set-art-off-in-a-corner-and-h_1048466.png) > “You cannot set art off in a corner and hope for it to have vitality, reality, and substance.” [Charles Ives](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-ives/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Art cannot be isolated; it needs vitality, reality, and substance to truly live. **In simple terms:** Art must be alive and grounded. Key Takeaway Engage with art in real, meaningful contexts. Themes creativity authenticity engagement reality Mood thoughtful inspirational Type advice philosophical When to use this quote - education - public installations - community projects - personal expression Key Concepts vitality substance presence experience Questions to Reflect On - In what ways can you give art real substance? - How does context affect artistic vitality? A Different Perspective Art may lose impact if forced into sterile settings. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Art](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/art/) [Artist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/artist/) [Hope](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hope/) [Reality](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/reality/) [Vitality](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/vitality/) ## Related quotes > [Art is a corner of creation seen through a temperament.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mile-zola/art-is-a-corner-of-creation-seen-through-a-temperament/) [Emile Zola](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mile-zola/) > [Agitation is that part of our intellectual life where vitality results; there ideas are born, breed and bring forth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-edward-woodberry/agitation-is-that-part-of-our-intellectual-life-where-vitality/) [George Edward Woodberry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-edward-woodberry/) > [If European symbols and traditions have grown tired, perfunctory and oppressively banal in Australia, or been drained of spirit and meaning by the dreary…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-leunig/if-european-symbols-and-traditions-have-grown-tired-perfunctory-and/) [Michael Leunig](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-leunig/) > [Each person is a temporary focus of forces, vitalities, and values that carry back to an immemorial past and that reach forward into an…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lewis-mumford/each-person-is-a-temporary-focus-of-forces-vitalities-and-values-that/) [Lewis Mumford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lewis-mumford/) > [All men who live only according to their five senses, and seek nothing beyond the gratification of their natural appetites for pleasure and reputation…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-merton/all-men-who-live-only-according-to-their-five-senses-and-seek-nothing/) [Thomas Merton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-merton/) > [The mere lapse of years is not life. To eat, to drink, and sleep; to be exposed to darkness and the light; to pace…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-martineau/the-mere-lapse-of-years-is-not-life-to-eat-to-drink-and-sleep-to-be/) [James Martineau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-martineau/) > [The saints differ from us in their exuberance, the excess of our human talents. Moderation is not their secret. It is in the wildness…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/phyllis-mcginley/the-saints-differ-from-us-in-their-exuberance-the-excess-of-our-human/) [Phyllis McGinley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/phyllis-mcginley/) > [Thoughts are things. Negativity is what kills you... It's tough to do, but you've got to work at living, you know? Most people work…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-lalanne/thoughts-are-things-negativity-is-what-kills-you-it-s-tough-to-do-but/) [Jack LaLanne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-lalanne/) > [What good does it do me, after all, if an ever-watchful authority keeps an eye out to ensure that my pleasures will be tranquil…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexis-de-tocqueville/what-good-does-it-do-me-after-all-if-an-ever-watchful-authority-keeps/) [Alexis de Tocqueville](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexis-de-tocqueville/) > [The wonderful structure of the animal system will probably never permit us to look upon it as a merely physical apparatus, yet the demands…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-gorrie/the-wonderful-structure-of-the-animal-system-will-probably-never/) John Gorrie > [There are few of us who have not sometimes wakened before dawn, either after one of those dreamless nights that make one almost enamoured…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oscar-wilde/there-are-few-of-us-who-have-not-sometimes-wakened-before-dawn-either/) [Oscar Wilde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oscar-wilde/) > [To exist (in mathematics), said Henri Poincaré, is to be free from contradiction. But mere existence does not guarantee survival. To survive in mathematics…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-kac/to-exist-in-mathematics-said-henri-poincar-is-to-be-free-from/) [Mark Kac](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-kac/) > [You can measure a programmer's perspective by noting his attitude on the continuing vitality of FORTRAN.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-perlis/you-can-measure-a-programmer-s-perspective-by-noting-his-attitude-on/) [Alan Perlis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-perlis/) > [It has always been cited as an irrepressible symptom of America's vitality that her people, in fair times and foul, believe in themselves and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alistair-cooke/it-has-always-been-cited-as-an-irrepressible-symptom-of-america-s/) [Alistair Cooke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alistair-cooke/) > [Research is the live heart of the scientific life ... Greatness of position, respect for past accomplishments, the Nobel Prize itself -- none of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vivian-gornick/research-is-the-live-heart-of-the-scientific-life-greatness-of/) [Vivian Gornick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vivian-gornick/) ## More by Charles Ives > [Expression, to a great extent, is a matter of terms, and terms are anyone's. The meaning of 'God' may have a billion interpretations if…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-ives/expression-to-a-great-extent-is-a-matter-of-terms-and-terms-are/) [Charles Ives](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-ives/) > [I don't write music for sissy ears.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-ives/i-don-t-write-music-for-sissy-ears/) [Charles Ives](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-ives/) > [In some century to come, when the school children will whistle popular tunes in quarter-tones--when the diatonic scale will be as obsolete as the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-ives/in-some-century-to-come-when-the-school-children-will-whistle-popular/) [Charles Ives](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-ives/) > [It is conceivable that what is unified form to the author or composer may of necessity be formless to his audience.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-ives/it-is-conceivable-that-what-is-unified-form-to-the-author-or-composer/) [Charles Ives](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-ives/) > [A rare experience of a moment at daybreak, when something in nature seems to reveal all consciousness, cannot be explained at noon. Yet it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-ives/a-rare-experience-of-a-moment-at-daybreak-when-something-in-nature/) [Charles Ives](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-ives/) > [Most of the forward movements of life in general ... have been the work of essentially religiously-minded people.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-ives/most-of-the-forward-movements-of-life-in-general-have-been-the-work/) [Charles Ives](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-ives/) > [There can be nothing exclusive about substantial art. It comes directly out of the heart of the experience of life and thinking about life…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-ives/there-can-be-nothing-exclusive-about-substantial-art-it-comes/) [Charles Ives](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-ives/) > [The future of music may not lie entirely in music itself, but rather in the way it encourages and extends, rather than limits the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-ives/the-future-of-music-may-not-lie-entirely-in-music-itself-but-rather/) [Charles Ives](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-ives/) > [An apparent confusion, if lived with long enough, may become orderly . . . A rare experience of a moment at daybreak, when something…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-ives/an-apparent-confusion-if-lived-with-long-enough-may-become-orderly-a/) [Charles Ives](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-ives/) > [The possibilities of percussion sounds, I believe, have never been fully realized](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-ives/the-possibilities-of-percussion-sounds-i-believe-have-never-been/) [Charles Ives](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-ives/) > [Beauty in music is too often confused with something that lets the ears lie back in an easy chair. Many sounds that we are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-ives/beauty-in-music-is-too-often-confused-with-something-that-lets-the/) [Charles Ives](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-ives/) > [Stand up and take your dissonance like a man.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-ives/stand-up-and-take-your-dissonance-like-a-man/) [Charles Ives](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-ives/) > [A song has a few rights the same as ordinary citizens... if it happens to feel like flying where humans cannot fly... to scale…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-ives/a-song-has-a-few-rights-the-same-as-ordinary-citizens-if-it-happens/) [Charles Ives](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-ives/) > [But maybe music was not intended to satisfy the curious definiteness of man. Maybe it is better to hope that music may always be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-ives/but-maybe-music-was-not-intended-to-satisfy-the-curious-definiteness/) [Charles Ives](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-ives/) > [For the man of talent affects to call his transgressions of the laws of sense trivial and to count them nothing considerd with his…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-ives/for-the-man-of-talent-affects-to-call-his-transgressions-of-the-laws/) [Charles Ives](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-ives/) [Explore all 37 Charles Ives quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-ives/) ## 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": "You cannot set art off in a corner and hope for it to have vitality, reality, and substance.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Charles Ives" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-ives/you-cannot-set-art-off-in-a-corner-and-hope-for-it-to-have-vitality/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Art" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-ives/you-cannot-set-art-off-in-a-corner-and-hope-for-it-to-have-vitality/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/92f/charles-ives-17391_art_you-cannot-set-art-off-in-a-corner-and-h_1048466.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/92f/charles-ives-17391_art_you-cannot-set-art-off-in-a-corner-and-h_1048466.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/92f/charles-ives-17391_art_you-cannot-set-art-off-in-a-corner-and-h_1048466.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“You cannot set art off in a corner and hope for it to have vitality, reality, and substance.” — Charles Ives", "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": "Charles Ives", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-ives/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "You cannot set art off in...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-ives/you-cannot-set-art-off-in-a-corner-and-hope-for-it-to-have-vitality/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-ives/you-cannot-set-art-off-in-a-corner-and-hope-for-it-to-have-vitality/#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 } } ] } ```