--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Making art in America is about saving…" description: "\"Making art in America is about saving one's soul.\" — Charles Simic" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/78a/charles-simic-9906_america_making-art-in-america-is-about-saving-on_2494507.png" --- # Making art in America is about saving one's soul. ![“Making art in America is about saving one's soul.” quote by Charles Simic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/78a/charles-simic-9906_america_making-art-in-america-is-about-saving-on_2494507.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/78a/charles-simic-9906_america_making-art-in-america-is-about-saving-on_2494507.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/78a/charles-simic-9906_america_making-art-in-america-is-about-saving-on_2494507.png) > “Making art in America is about saving one's soul.” [Charles Simic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-simic/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Creating art in America serves as a means to preserve one's inner spirit. **In simple terms:** Art saves the soul. Key Takeaway Practice art to nurture inner self. Themes creativity spirituality culture Mood inspired contemplative Type artistic philosophical When to use this quote - studio work - public murals - personal healing Key Concepts Artistic expression national identity Questions to Reflect On - How does art protect your soul? - What role does culture play? A Different Perspective Art may also be commercialized, diluting soul. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [America](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/america/) [America Saving](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/america-saving-999189/) [Art](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/art/) [Art America](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/art-america-902811/) [Artist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/artist/) [Making Art](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/making-art/) [Saving](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/saving/) [Saving Soul](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/saving-soul-716601/) [Soul](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/soul/) ## Related quotes > [Making art in America is sort of a political statement in and of itself. It's not the best environment for that sometimes.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-earle/making-art-in-america-is-sort-of-a-political-statement-in-and-of/) [Steve Earle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-earle/) > [If I might be the means of saving one soul I should prefer it to all the riches and honor in the world](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/asahel-nettleton/if-i-might-be-the-means-of-saving-one-soul-i-should-prefer-it-to-all/) [Asahel Nettleton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/asahel-nettleton/) > [“How wonderful that God should endow us with this sensitive yet strong guide we call a conscience! Someone has aptly re-marked that "conscience is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/spencer-w-kimball/how-wonderful-that-god-should-endow-us-with-this-sensitive-yet-strong/) [Spencer W. Kimball](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/spencer-w-kimball/) > [I must assert in the most unqualified way that it is primarily and mainly for the sake of saving the soul that I seek…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-booth/i-must-assert-in-the-most-unqualified-way-that-it-is-primarily-and/) [William Booth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-booth/) > [Country music is not a formula it's a music with its own soul and I'm all about saving that soul!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sammy-kershaw/country-music-is-not-a-formula-it-s-a-music-with-its-own-soul-and-i-m/) [Sammy Kershaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sammy-kershaw/) > [“We all of us die, Miss Smallwood,' he interrupted. 'But we don't all of us make our lives count for something. How much better…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julie-klassen/we-all-of-us-die-miss-smallwood-he-interrupted-but-we-don-t-all-of-us/) [Julie Klassen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julie-klassen/) > [Each and every one of us has one obligation, during the bewildered days of our pilgrimage here: the saving of his own soul, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kathleen-norris/each-and-every-one-of-us-has-one-obligation-during-the-bewildered/) [Kathleen Norris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kathleen-norris/) > [We see that the soul is the deepest and the most vital part of the person as a whole. It is often treated as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dallas-willard/we-see-that-the-soul-is-the-deepest-and-the-most-vital-part-of-the/) [Dallas Willard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dallas-willard/) > [“Effectual calling being the actual saving of a soul from the death of sin by the mighty power of God, it is obvious that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/archibald-alexander-hodge/effectual-calling-being-the-actual-saving-of-a-soul-from-the-death-of/) [Archibald Alexander Hodge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/archibald-alexander-hodge/) > [ “\[I\]t's the child writer who has figured out, early on, that writing is about saving your soul.” ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/betsy-lerner/i-t-s-the-child-writer-who-has-figured-out-early-on-that-writing-is/) [Betsy Lerner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/betsy-lerner/) > [Art in America has always been regarded as a luxury.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hallie-flanagan/art-in-america-has-always-been-regarded-as-a-luxury/) [Hallie Flanagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hallie-flanagan/) > [The earlier days of the republic went into the acquisition of money and the provision for material things is now finding an outlet in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fritz-kreisler/the-earlier-days-of-the-republic-went-into-the-acquisition-of-money/) [Fritz Kreisler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fritz-kreisler/) > [I just get the feeling that if Jesse Helms was in charge of art in America, you'd go into a museum and see nothing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elayne-boosler/i-just-get-the-feeling-that-if-jesse-helms-was-in-charge-of-art-in/) [Elayne Boosler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elayne-boosler/) > [But, you see, the theatre is not always art in America.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/beatrice-wood/but-you-see-the-theatre-is-not-always-art-in-america/) [Beatrice Wood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/beatrice-wood/) > [Art in America should be American, drawn from American sources, memorializing American achievement.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gutzon-borglum/art-in-america-should-be-american-drawn-from-american-sources/) [Gutzon Borglum](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gutzon-borglum/) ## More by Charles Simic > [“Lyric poets are always corrupting the young, making them choke in self-pity and indulge in reverie. Dirty sex and direspect for authority is what…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-simic/lyric-poets-are-always-corrupting-the-young-making-them-choke-in-self/) [Charles Simic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-simic/) > [“There’s a book called “A Dictionary of Angels.” No one has opened it in fifty years, I know, because when I did, The covers…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-simic/there-s-a-book-called-a-dictionary-of-angels-no-one-has-opened-it-in/) [Charles Simic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-simic/) > [Poetry is an orphan of silence. The words never quite equal the experience behind them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-simic/poetry-is-an-orphan-of-silence-the-words-never-quite-equal-the/) [Charles Simic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-simic/) > [“The truth is dark under your eyelids. What are you going to do about it? The birds are silent; there's no one to ask.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-simic/the-truth-is-dark-under-your-eyelids-what-are-you-going-to-do-about/) [Charles Simic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-simic/) > [Wanted: a needle swift enough to sew this poem into a blanket.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-simic/wanted-a-needle-swift-enough-to-sew-this-poem-into-a-blanket/) [Charles Simic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-simic/) > [In their effort to divorce language and experience, deconstructionist critics remind me of middle-class parents who do not allow their children to play in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-simic/in-their-effort-to-divorce-language-and-experience-deconstructionist/) [Charles Simic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-simic/) > [“The ambition of much of today's literary theory seems to be to find ways to read literature without imagination.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-simic/the-ambition-of-much-of-today-s-literary-theory-seems-to-be-to-find/) [Charles Simic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-simic/) > [Poems are other people's snapshots in which we see our own lives.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-simic/poems-are-other-people-s-snapshots-in-which-we-see-our-own-lives/) [Charles Simic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-simic/) > [“The Something" Here come my night thoughts On crutches, Returning from studying the heavens. What they thought about Stayed the same, Stayed immense and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-simic/the-something-here-come-my-night-thoughts-on-crutches-returning-from/) [Charles Simic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-simic/) > [There are knives that glitter like altars In a dark church Where they bring the cripple and the imbecile To be healed. There's a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-simic/there-are-knives-that-glitter-like-altars-in-a-dark-church-where-they/) [Charles Simic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-simic/) > [“هندوانه بودای سبز بر پیشخوان میوه فروش لبخندش را گاز میزنیم و دندانهایش را تف میکنیم :: Watermelons Green Buddhas On the fruit stand. We eat the smile And spit out the teeth.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-simic/watermelons-green-buddhas-on-the-fruit-stand-we-eat-the-smile-and/) [Charles Simic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-simic/) > [Words make love on the page like flies in the summer heat and the poet is only the bemused spectator.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-simic/words-make-love-on-the-page-like-flies-in-the-summer-heat-and-the/) [Charles Simic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-simic/) > [“The idea is to spin the wheel of metaphors and images until sparks of associations begin to fly for the reader.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-simic/the-idea-is-to-spin-the-wheel-of-metaphors-and-images-until-sparks-of/) [Charles Simic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-simic/) > [Found objects, chance creations, ready-mades (mass-produced items promoted into art objects, such as Duchamp's "Fountain"-urinal as sculpture) abolish the separation between art and life.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-simic/found-objects-chance-creations-ready-mades-mass-produced-items/) [Charles Simic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-simic/) > [The plain truth is we are going to die. Here I am, a teeny spec surrounded by boundless space and time, arguing with the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-simic/the-plain-truth-is-we-are-going-to-die-here-i-am-a-teeny-spec/) [Charles Simic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-simic/) [Explore all 69 Charles Simic quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-simic/) ## More America quotes > [The costs of the Bush-Obama wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are now estimated to run as high as $4.4 trillion - a major victory…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/noam-chomsky/the-costs-of-the-bush-obama-wars-in-iraq-and-afghanistan-are-now/) [Noam Chomsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/noam-chomsky/) > [Young men, especially in America, write to me and ask me to recommend “a course of reading.” Distrust a course of reading! People who…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-lang/young-men-especially-in-america-write-to-me-and-ask-me-to-recommend-a/) [Andrew Lang](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-lang/) > [Well, The Day the Earth Caught Fire was a story... I don't if anybody knows what it is but it was about... in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/val-guest/well-the-day-the-earth-caught-fire-was-a-story-i-don-t-if-anybody/) [Val Guest](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/val-guest/) > [So here's what I want you to know, and here's what I want all our men and women in uniform to know: Because of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barack-obama/so-here-s-what-i-want-you-to-know-and-here-s-what-i-want-all-our-men/) [Barack Obama](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barack-obama/) > [Today, the world looks to America for leadership. And America looks to its Corps of Marines.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ronald-reagan/today-the-world-looks-to-america-for-leadership-and-america-looks-to/) [Ronald Reagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ronald-reagan/) > [The image of blacks usually is one of people who are suffering from hunger, unemployment, and poverty. The idea of them as agents and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/grace-lee-boggs/the-image-of-blacks-usually-is-one-of-people-who-are-suffering-from/) [Grace Lee Boggs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/grace-lee-boggs/) > [ I'll smoke, I'll cough, I'll get the tumors, I'll die, deal? Thank you America. \[salutes\] ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-hicks/i-ll-smoke-i-ll-cough-i-ll-get-the-tumors-i-ll-die-deal-thank-you/) [Bill Hicks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-hicks/) > [America is a democracy and has no Hitler, but I am afraid for her future; there are hard times ahead for the American people,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-einstein/america-is-a-democracy-and-has-no-hitler-but-i-am-afraid-for-her/) [Albert Einstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-einstein/) > [I'm gonna bring America together.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donald-trump/i-m-gonna-bring-america-together/) [Donald Trump](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donald-trump/) > [In the nineteenth century some parts of the world were unexplored, but there was almost no restriction on travel.:; Up to 1914 you did…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/in-the-nineteenth-century-some-parts-of-the-world-were-unexplored-but/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [We need a system that serves our needs, not the needs of others. Remember, under a Trump administration it's called America first. Remember that.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donald-trump/we-need-a-system-that-serves-our-needs-not-the-needs-of-others/) [Donald Trump](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donald-trump/) > [America, you're sending girls a mixed message. On one hand, you're saying to have positive body image and love who we are; on the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adora-svitak/america-you-re-sending-girls-a-mixed-message-on-one-hand-you-re/) [Adora Svitak](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adora-svitak/) > [You live overseas, you see these exotic places and you want to know about them. But, weirdly, it also made me homesick for all…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ken-jennings/you-live-overseas-you-see-these-exotic-places-and-you-want-to-know/) [Ken Jennings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ken-jennings/) > [Freedom in every sense but primarily political sense, a rise in repression that stems from a repression of sexuality. It's AIDS, it's herpes, it's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-nicholson/freedom-in-every-sense-but-primarily-political-sense-a-rise-in/) [Jack Nicholson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-nicholson/) > [“In American terms, the accomplishment of Genghis Khan might be understood if the United States, instead of being created by a group of educated…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-weatherford/in-american-terms-the-accomplishment-of-genghis-khan-might-be/) [Jack Weatherford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-weatherford/) [Browse all 20,382 America quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/america/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Making art in America is about saving one's soul.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Charles Simic" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-simic/making-art-in-america-is-about-saving-one-s-soul/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "America" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-simic/making-art-in-america-is-about-saving-one-s-soul/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/78a/charles-simic-9906_america_making-art-in-america-is-about-saving-on_2494507.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/78a/charles-simic-9906_america_making-art-in-america-is-about-saving-on_2494507.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/78a/charles-simic-9906_america_making-art-in-america-is-about-saving-on_2494507.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Making art in America is about saving one's soul.” — Charles Simic", "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 Simic", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-simic/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Making art in America is about...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-simic/making-art-in-america-is-about-saving-one-s-soul/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-simic/making-art-in-america-is-about-saving-one-s-soul/#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 } } ] } ```