--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I don't think the government should touch…" description: "\"I don't think the government should touch art. Governments are risk averse. They encourage risk-averse personalities to be artists.\" — Dave Hickey" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e1d/dave-hickey-19063_art_i-don-t-think-the-government-should-touc_1040947.jpg" --- # I don't think the government should touch art. Governments… ![“I don't think the government should touch art. Governments are risk averse. They encourage risk-averse personalities to be artists.” quote by Dave Hickey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e1d/dave-hickey-19063_art_i-don-t-think-the-government-should-touc_1040947.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e1d/dave-hickey-19063_art_i-don-t-think-the-government-should-touc_1040947.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e1d/dave-hickey-19063_art_i-don-t-think-the-government-should-touc_1040947.jpg) > “I don't think the government should touch art. Governments are risk averse. They encourage risk-averse personalities to be artists.” [Dave Hickey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dave-hickey/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. He argues government support stifles artistic risk, promoting safe, conventional work. **In simple terms:** Government funding can make art risk‑averse. Key Takeaway Support independent art that encourages experimentation. Themes art government policy risk Mood critical thoughtful Type analytical philosophical When to use this quote - grant applications - artist collectives - public exhibitions Key Concepts cultural funding creative freedom Questions to Reflect On - Should art be funded publicly? - How can artists thrive without government support? A Different Perspective Some artists rely on public funds for survival. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Art](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/art/) [Art Governments](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/art-governments-2433167/) [Artist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/artist/) [Government](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/government/) [Government Touch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/government-touch-2433169/) [Governments](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/governments/) [Governments Risk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/governments-risk-2433168/) [Personality](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/personality/) [Politics](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/politics/) [Risk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/risk/) [Should](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/should/) [Think Government](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/think-government-720145/) [Thinking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thinking/) ## Related quotes > [“Most governments strive to keep the masses from thinking; if the masses began to think the government would not be in power - rjs”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rassool-jibraeel-snyman/most-governments-strive-to-keep-the-masses-from-thinking-if-the/) [rassool jibraeel snyman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rassool-jibraeel-snyman/) > [I know. It's shocking to think that the government would try to stick its nose in our ladyparts.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/megan-mccafferty/i-know-it-s-shocking-to-think-that-the-government-would-try-to-stick/) [Megan McCafferty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/megan-mccafferty/) > [“I think the government is incompetent, not evil.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adam-carolla/i-think-the-government-is-incompetent-not-evil/) [Adam Carolla](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adam-carolla/) > [I get so ticked off at you intellectually lazy people who think that the government is God, that every dollar they get or spend…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rush-limbaugh/i-get-so-ticked-off-at-you-intellectually-lazy-people-who-think-that/) [Rush Limbaugh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rush-limbaugh/) > [One of the things that I do think government counts on is that people are busy. 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And - and that it's totally out of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-boehner/the-american-people-think-the-government-in-washington-is-too-big/) [John Boehner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-boehner/) > [People are frustrated. They're fed up. They don't think the government is working for them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-kasich/people-are-frustrated-they-re-fed-up-they-don-t-think-the-government/) [John Kasich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-kasich/) ## More by Dave Hickey > [Martha Stewart contributes more to our civility than the Baptist Church.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dave-hickey/martha-stewart-contributes-more-to-our-civility-than-the-baptist/) [Dave Hickey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dave-hickey/) > [In images,... beauty was the agency that caused visual pleasure in the beholder; and any theory of images that was not grounded in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dave-hickey/in-images-beauty-was-the-agency-that-caused-visual-pleasure-in-the/) [Dave Hickey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dave-hickey/) > [“If there is no art, no culture, then what the fuck are we going to talk about? These are our stories and our stories…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dave-hickey/if-there-is-no-art-no-culture-then-what-the-fuck-are-we-going-to-talk/) [Dave Hickey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dave-hickey/) > [I think that if you don't like something and it's not easy, you shouldn't be doing it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dave-hickey/i-think-that-if-you-don-t-like-something-and-it-s-not-easy-you/) [Dave Hickey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dave-hickey/) > [My mother was an economics professor. I'm proficient in math, and statistics, game theory, symbolic logic and all of that.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dave-hickey/my-mother-was-an-economics-professor-i-m-proficient-in-math-and/) [Dave Hickey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dave-hickey/) > [I have no evangelical feelings about art at all. I despise art education. Art doesn't lend itself to education. 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To try to make them…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dave-hickey/there-are-issues-worth-advancing-in-images-worth-admiring-and-the/) [Dave Hickey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dave-hickey/) > [If I go to London, everyone wants to talk about Damien Hirst. I'm just not interested in him. Never have been.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dave-hickey/if-i-go-to-london-everyone-wants-to-talk-about-damien-hirst-i-m-just/) [Dave Hickey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dave-hickey/) > [With the artists, I don't teach, I coach. I can't tell them how to make art. I tell them to make more art. I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dave-hickey/with-the-artists-i-don-t-teach-i-coach-i-can-t-tell-them-how-to-make/) [Dave Hickey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dave-hickey/) > [It used to be that if you stood in front of a painting you didn't understand, you'd have some obligation to guess. Now you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dave-hickey/it-used-to-be-that-if-you-stood-in-front-of-a-painting-you-didn-t/) [Dave Hickey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dave-hickey/) > [Even if one succeeds in making a silk purse out of a sow's ear, there remains the problem of what to do with a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dave-hickey/even-if-one-succeeds-in-making-a-silk-purse-out-of-a-sow-s-ear-there/) [Dave Hickey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dave-hickey/) > [In my experience, you always think you know what you're doing; you always think you can explain, but you always discover, years later, that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dave-hickey/in-my-experience-you-always-think-you-know-what-you-re-doing-you/) [Dave Hickey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dave-hickey/) > [Art editors and critics - people like me - have become a courtier class.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dave-hickey/art-editors-and-critics-people-like-me-have-become-a-courtier-class/) [Dave Hickey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dave-hickey/) [Explore all 33 Dave Hickey quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dave-hickey/) ## 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. 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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. 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