--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The chasm between the beauty and…" description: "\"The chasm between the beauty and seriousness of the work, and what it has become, has overwhelmed me. The commercialization has reduced the aesthetic a..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/76f/christopher-tolkien-77295_aesthetic_the-chasm-between-the-beauty-and-serious_885682.jpg" --- # The chasm between the beauty and seriousness of the work… ![“The chasm between the beauty and seriousness of the work, and what it has become, has overwhelmed me. The commercialization has reduced the aesthetic and philosophical impact of the creation to nothing. There is only one solution for me: to turn my head away.” quote by Christopher Tolkien](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/76f/christopher-tolkien-77295_aesthetic_the-chasm-between-the-beauty-and-serious_885682.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/76f/christopher-tolkien-77295_aesthetic_the-chasm-between-the-beauty-and-serious_885682.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/76f/christopher-tolkien-77295_aesthetic_the-chasm-between-the-beauty-and-serious_885682.jpg) > “The chasm between the beauty and seriousness of the work, and what it has become, has overwhelmed me. The commercialization has reduced the aesthetic and philosophical impact of the creation to nothing. There is only one solution for me: to turn my head away.” Christopher Tolkien ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The speaker feels that commercial pressures have stripped the work of its artistic and philosophical depth, leaving only a desire to disengage. **In simple terms:** Commercialism has ruined the work's beauty and depth, prompting withdrawal. Key Takeaway Consider stepping back from compromised creations. Themes art commercialism philosophy disillusionment Mood disappointed reflective Type critical philosophical When to use this quote - publishing industry - film adaptations - merchandising - fan expectations Key Concepts aesthetic loss cultural commodification Questions to Reflect On - How can creators protect artistic integrity? - What alternatives exist to commercial pressures? A Different Perspective Not all commercial success erodes value; some can fund preservation. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Aesthetic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/aesthetic/) [Artist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/artist/) [Beauty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/beauty/) [Creation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/creation/) [Impact](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/impact/) [Philosophical](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/philosophical/) [Seriousness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/seriousness/) ## Related quotes > [Beauty and seriousness are perhaps the most shocking tactics left to artists these days.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/grayson-perry/beauty-and-seriousness-are-perhaps-the-most-shocking-tactics-left-to/) [Grayson Perry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/grayson-perry/) > [When I go to Japan and do shows I play for 1,000 to 1,500 people. I like a lot about Japan. Their popular culture…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthew-sweet/when-i-go-to-japan-and-do-shows-i-play-for-1-000-to-1-500-people-i/) [Matthew Sweet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthew-sweet/) > [“in 2011, Rachel and I founded a company called Caribou Biosciences to commercialize the Cas proteins.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jennifer-a-doudna/in-2011-rachel-and-i-founded-a-company-called-caribou-biosciences-to/) [Jennifer A. Doudna](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jennifer-a-doudna/) > [I'm not worried about the kernel itself or the basic system. All the commercialization is about the distributions and the applications. As such, it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/linus-torvalds/i-m-not-worried-about-the-kernel-itself-or-the-basic-system-all-the/) [Linus Torvalds](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/linus-torvalds/) > [In our modern society the image and mythic process has been taken over by corporations that directly control advertising and, indirectly, the entertainment industry.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-lawlor/in-our-modern-society-the-image-and-mythic-process-has-been-taken/) Robert Lawlor > [The commercialization of sport is the democratization of sport.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-young/the-commercialization-of-sport-is-the-democratization-of-sport/) [Andrew Young](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-young/) > [I just think there's something about being in the Olympics, even though I think it's been tarnished a little bit by commercialization.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-izzo/i-just-think-there-s-something-about-being-in-the-olympics-even/) [Tom Izzo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-izzo/) > [So many things for me are unfortunate in the commercialization of something that is special. It's like when Led Zeppelin appears in Cadillac commercials.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-carter/so-many-things-for-me-are-unfortunate-in-the-commercialization-of/) [Chris Carter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-carter/) > [Over-commercialization and its resulting restrictions and limitations can be very damaging and distorting to the inherent nature of the individual. I did not deliberately…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lauryn-hill/over-commercialization-and-its-resulting-restrictions-and-limitations/) [Lauryn Hill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lauryn-hill/) > [“Creative Commons has a lot to offer to the entertainment industry provided it is strategically merged with copyright commercialization strategy”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kalyan-c-kankanala/creative-commons-has-a-lot-to-offer-to-the-entertainment-industry/) [Kalyan C. Kankanala](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kalyan-c-kankanala/) > [I haven't been very enthusiastic about the commercialization of children's literature. Kids should borrow books from the library and not necessarily be buying them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/beverly-cleary/i-haven-t-been-very-enthusiastic-about-the-commercialization-of/) [Beverly Cleary](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/beverly-cleary/) > [If commercialization is putting my art on a shirt so that a kid who can't afford a $30,000 painting can buy one, then I'm…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/keith-haring/if-commercialization-is-putting-my-art-on-a-shirt-so-that-a-kid-who/) [Keith Haring](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/keith-haring/) > [“The Europeans hate us because we’ve retired to live inside our advertisements, like hermits going into caves to contemplate. We sleep in symbolic bedrooms,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-isherwood/the-europeans-hate-us-because-we-ve-retired-to-live-inside-our/) [Christopher Isherwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-isherwood/) > [“The vision teller tells the vision to unguarded minds' of prey. The programmed.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/t-f-hodge/the-vision-teller-tells-the-vision-to-unguarded-minds-of-prey-the/) [T.F. Hodge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/t-f-hodge/) > [Combining the experience of a seasoned university president with the analysis of a respected legal scholar, Derek Bok explores what he concludes are 'signs…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-h-t-rhodes/combining-the-experience-of-a-seasoned-university-president-with-the/) Frank H. T. Rhodes ## More by Christopher Tolkien > [They gutted the book, making an action movie for 15-25 year olds. Tolkien became...devoured by his popularity and absorbed by the absurdity of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-tolkien/they-gutted-the-book-making-an-action-movie-for-15-25-year-olds/) Christopher Tolkien > [They eviscerated the book by making it an action movie for young people aged 15 to 25, and it seems that The Hobbit will…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-tolkien/they-eviscerated-the-book-by-making-it-an-action-movie-for-young/) Christopher Tolkien Explore all 3 Christopher Tolkien quotes ## More Aesthetic quotes > [You feed yourself. Make sure you have all the information, whether it's aesthetic, scientific, mathematical, I don't care what it is. Then you walk…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ray-bradbury/you-feed-yourself-make-sure-you-have-all-the-information-whether-it-s/) [Ray Bradbury](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ray-bradbury/) > [“Beauty in the European sense has always had a premeditated quality to it. We've always had an aesthetic intention and a long-range plan. That's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/milan-kundera/beauty-in-the-european-sense-has-always-had-a-premeditated-quality-to/) [Milan Kundera](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/milan-kundera/) > [All efforts to render politics aesthetic culminate in one thing: war.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-benjamin/all-efforts-to-render-politics-aesthetic-culminate-in-one-thing-war/) [Walter Benjamin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-benjamin/) > [Design certainly has a cosmetic, aesthetic aim. It always aims at making things beautiful. But relevance is just as important. I often say, 'If…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yves-behar/design-certainly-has-a-cosmetic-aesthetic-aim-it-always-aims-at/) [Yves Behar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yves-behar/) > [I don't think I was ever thinking critically about my aesthetic, I think it's enough when you're little just to understand that you can…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tavi-gevinson/i-don-t-think-i-was-ever-thinking-critically-about-my-aesthetic-i/) [Tavi Gevinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tavi-gevinson/) > [I'm kind of still down with Virg Woolf on this one: "women must kill the aesthetic ideal through which they themselves have been 'killed'…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lidia-yuknavitch/i-m-kind-of-still-down-with-virg-woolf-on-this-one-women-must-kill/) [Lidia Yuknavitch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lidia-yuknavitch/) > [Virtue is as little to be acquired by learning as genius; nay, the idea is barren, and is only to be employed as an…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-schopenhauer/virtue-is-as-little-to-be-acquired-by-learning-as-genius-nay-the-idea/) [Arthur Schopenhauer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-schopenhauer/) > [There is a certain aesthetic pleasure in trying to imagine the unimaginable and failing, if you are a reader.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/a-s-byatt-2/there-is-a-certain-aesthetic-pleasure-in-trying-to-imagine-the/) [A. S. Byatt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/a-s-byatt-2/) > [I try to get the hip-hop aesthetic, most times without an MC. I don't use a rapper or a DJ to give it the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-glasper/i-try-to-get-the-hip-hop-aesthetic-most-times-without-an-mc-i-don-t/) [Robert Glasper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-glasper/) > [It's so important what you're doing in your life. It's tremendously important to the work, and no aesthetic theories take that into account.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-maus/it-s-so-important-what-you-re-doing-in-your-life-it-s-tremendously/) [John Maus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-maus/) > [It is not necessary to have an extravagant food budget in order to serve things with variety and tastefully cooked. It is not necessary…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edith-schaeffer/it-is-not-necessary-to-have-an-extravagant-food-budget-in-order-to/) [Edith Schaeffer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edith-schaeffer/) > [In reality no food is valued solely for its nutritive power and no garment or house solely for the protection it affords against cold…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ludwig-von-mises/in-reality-no-food-is-valued-solely-for-its-nutritive-power-and-no/) [Ludwig von Mises](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ludwig-von-mises/) > [Art is realistic when it strives to express an ethical ideal. Realism is striving for truth, and truth is always beautiful. 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Not a movement committed to a particular 'ism', but a gathering together of writers…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-metcalf/i-wanted-the-press-to-become-something-of-a-movement-not-a-movement/) John Metcalf [Browse all 953 Aesthetic quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/aesthetic/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "The chasm between the beauty and seriousness of the work, and what it has become, has overwhelmed me. The commercialization has reduced the aesthetic and philosophical impact of the creation to nothing. 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