--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The basis of art is truth, both in matter…" description: "\"The basis of art is truth, both in matter and in mode.\" — Flannery O'Connor" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f3f/flannery-o-connor-639_art_the-basis-of-art-is-truth-both-in-matter_342508.png" --- # The basis of art is truth, both in matter and in mode. ![“The basis of art is truth, both in matter and in mode.” quote by Flannery O'Connor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f3f/flannery-o-connor-639_art_the-basis-of-art-is-truth-both-in-matter_342508.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f3f/flannery-o-connor-639_art_the-basis-of-art-is-truth-both-in-matter_342508.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f3f/flannery-o-connor-639_art_the-basis-of-art-is-truth-both-in-matter_342508.png) > “The basis of art is truth, both in matter and in mode.” [Flannery O'Connor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/flannery-o-connor/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Art must reflect truth in both its material and its style, revealing reality through form **In simple terms:** True art shows reality in its substance and method Key Takeaway Seek honesty in creative expression Themes authenticity truth artistry Mood reflective thoughtful Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - painting - writing - sculpture - design Key Concepts aesthetics philosophy Questions to Reflect On - How do you balance truth and imagination? - When does truth become limiting? A Different Perspective Truth can be subjective, limiting universal appeal ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Art](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/art/) [Artist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/artist/) [Truth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/truth/) ## Related quotes > [The basis of art is change in the universe.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-basis-of-art-is-change-in-the-universe/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Drawing is the basis of art. A bad painter cannot draw. But one who draws well can always paint.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arshile-gorky/drawing-is-the-basis-of-art-a-bad-painter-cannot-draw-but-one-who/) [Arshile Gorky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arshile-gorky/) > [I think drawing is really the basis of all art, even sculpture, film. The greatest filmmakers have always been able to at least roughly…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-small/i-think-drawing-is-really-the-basis-of-all-art-even-sculpture-film/) [David Small](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-small/) > [We all know that Art is not truth. Art is a lie that makes us realize truth at least the truth that is given…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pablo-picasso/we-all-know-that-art-is-not-truth-art-is-a-lie-that-makes-us-realize/) [Pablo Picasso](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pablo-picasso/) > [Truth is not only a matter of offense, in that it makes certain assertions. It is also a matter of defense in that it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ravi-zacharias/truth-is-not-only-a-matter-of-offense-in-that-it-makes-certain/) [Ravi Zacharias](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ravi-zacharias/) > [“Cheers to all the Rebels out there who care way too much about Art and Truth and Magic to fall in line with the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/scott-stabile/cheers-to-all-the-rebels-out-there-who-care-way-too-much-about-art/) [Scott Stabile](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/scott-stabile/) > [We all know that Art is not truth. Art is a lie that makes us realize the truth, at least the truth that is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pablo-picasso/we-all-know-that-art-is-not-truth-art-is-a-lie-that-makes-us-realize-2/) [Pablo Picasso](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pablo-picasso/) > [The core of my writing is not art but truth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-k-dick/the-core-of-my-writing-is-not-art-but-truth/) [Philip K. Dick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-k-dick/) > [the challenge of nonfiction is to marry art and truth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/phyllis-rose/the-challenge-of-nonfiction-is-to-marry-art-and-truth/) [Phyllis Rose](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/phyllis-rose/) > [Love is art, not truth. It’s like painting scenery.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lorrie-moore/love-is-art-not-truth-it-s-like-painting-scenery/) [Lorrie Moore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lorrie-moore/) > [We now know that Art is not the truth... but rather a way of approaching the truth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pablo-picasso/we-now-know-that-art-is-not-the-truth-but-rather-a-way-of-approaching/) [Pablo Picasso](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pablo-picasso/) > [“Love is art, not truth. It's like painting a scenery.' These are the things one takes from mothers. Once they die, of course, you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lorrie-moore/love-is-art-not-truth-it-s-like-painting-a-scenery-these-are-the/) [Lorrie Moore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lorrie-moore/) > [Art should be truth; and truth, unadorned, unsentimentalized, is beauty.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-borton-de-trevino/art-should-be-truth-and-truth-unadorned-unsentimentalized-is-beauty/) [Elizabeth Borton de Trevino](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-borton-de-trevino/) > [“To call a story a true story is an insult to both art and truth.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vladimir-nabokov/to-call-a-story-a-true-story-is-an-insult-to-both-art-and-truth/) [Vladimir Nabokov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vladimir-nabokov/) > [Art is not truth; art is the lie which makes us see the truth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pablo-picasso/art-is-not-truth-art-is-the-lie-which-makes-us-see-the-truth/) [Pablo Picasso](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pablo-picasso/) ## More by Flannery O'Connor > [“Wait here, wait here!" he cried and jumped up and began to run for help toward a cluster of lights he saw in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/flannery-o-connor/wait-here-wait-here-he-cried-and-jumped-up-and-began-to-run-for-help/) [Flannery O'Connor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/flannery-o-connor/) > [... the man in the violent situation reveals those qualities least dispensable in his personality, those qualities which are all he will have to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/flannery-o-connor/the-man-in-the-violent-situation-reveals-those-qualities-least/) [Flannery O'Connor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/flannery-o-connor/) > [“I don’t know how to cure the source-itis except to tell you that I can discover a good many possible sources myself for Wise…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/flannery-o-connor/i-don-t-know-how-to-cure-the-source-itis-except-to-tell-you-that-i/) [Flannery O'Connor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/flannery-o-connor/) > [“For the fiction writer himself the whole story is the meaning, because it is an experience, not an abstraction.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/flannery-o-connor/for-the-fiction-writer-himself-the-whole-story-is-the-meaning-because/) [Flannery O'Connor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/flannery-o-connor/) > [Everything that gave her pleasure was small and depressed him.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/flannery-o-connor/everything-that-gave-her-pleasure-was-small-and-depressed-him/) [Flannery O'Connor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/flannery-o-connor/) > [To the hard of hearing you shout, and for the almost blind you draw large and startling figures.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/flannery-o-connor/to-the-hard-of-hearing-you-shout-and-for-the-almost-blind-you-draw/) [Flannery O'Connor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/flannery-o-connor/) > [“He felt his hunger no longer as a pain but as a tide. He felt it rising in himself through time and darkness, rising…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/flannery-o-connor/he-felt-his-hunger-no-longer-as-a-pain-but-as-a-tide-he-felt-it/) [Flannery O'Connor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/flannery-o-connor/) > [“Where you come from is gone, where you thought you were going to never was there, and where you are is no good unless…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/flannery-o-connor/where-you-come-from-is-gone-where-you-thought-you-were-going-to-never/) [Flannery O'Connor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/flannery-o-connor/) > [Technique in the minds of many is something rigid, something like a formula that you impose on the material; but in the best stories…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/flannery-o-connor/technique-in-the-minds-of-many-is-something-rigid-something-like-a/) [Flannery O'Connor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/flannery-o-connor/) > [“There are all kinds of truth ... but behind all of them there is only one truth and that is that there's no truth.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/flannery-o-connor/there-are-all-kinds-of-truth-but-behind-all-of-them-there-is-only-one/) [Flannery O'Connor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/flannery-o-connor/) > [“Mrs. May winced. She thought the word Jesus should be kept inside the church building like other words inside the bedroom.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/flannery-o-connor/mrs-may-winced-she-thought-the-word-jesus-should-be-kept-inside-the/) [Flannery O'Connor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/flannery-o-connor/) > [I feel that discussing story-writing in terms of plot, character, and theme is like trying to describe the expression on a face by saying…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/flannery-o-connor/i-feel-that-discussing-story-writing-in-terms-of-plot-character-and/) [Flannery O'Connor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/flannery-o-connor/) > [She had observed that the more education they got, the less they could do. Their father had gone to a one-room schoolhouse through the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/flannery-o-connor/she-had-observed-that-the-more-education-they-got-the-less-they-could/) [Flannery O'Connor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/flannery-o-connor/) > [One of the awful things about writing when you are a Christian is that for you the ultimate reality is the Incarnation, the present…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/flannery-o-connor/one-of-the-awful-things-about-writing-when-you-are-a-christian-is/) [Flannery O'Connor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/flannery-o-connor/) > [“Hazel Motes sat at a forward angel on the green plush train seat, looking one minute at the window as if he might want…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/flannery-o-connor/hazel-motes-sat-at-a-forward-angel-on-the-green-plush-train-seat/) [Flannery O'Connor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/flannery-o-connor/) [Explore all 432 Flannery O'Connor quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/flannery-o-connor/) ## 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": "The basis of art is truth, both in matter and in mode.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Flannery O'Connor" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/flannery-o-connor/the-basis-of-art-is-truth-both-in-matter-and-in-mode/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Art" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/flannery-o-connor/the-basis-of-art-is-truth-both-in-matter-and-in-mode/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f3f/flannery-o-connor-639_art_the-basis-of-art-is-truth-both-in-matter_342508.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f3f/flannery-o-connor-639_art_the-basis-of-art-is-truth-both-in-matter_342508.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f3f/flannery-o-connor-639_art_the-basis-of-art-is-truth-both-in-matter_342508.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“The basis of art is truth, both in matter and in mode.” — Flannery O'Connor", "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": "Flannery O'Connor", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/flannery-o-connor/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "The basis of art is truth,...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/flannery-o-connor/the-basis-of-art-is-truth-both-in-matter-and-in-mode/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/flannery-o-connor/the-basis-of-art-is-truth-both-in-matter-and-in-mode/#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 } } ] } ```