--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: He said he couldn't understand a world…" description: "\"“He said he couldn't understand a world 'shameless and cruel enough to divide its people by color when color is in fact the sign of God's artistic geni..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/274/frances-mayes-7779_artistic-genius_he-said-he-couldn-t-understand-a-world-s_2196562.png" --- # He said he couldn't understand a world 'shameless and… ![“He said he couldn't understand a world 'shameless and cruel enough to divide its people by color when color is in fact the sign of God's artistic genius.” quote by Frances Mayes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/274/frances-mayes-7779_artistic-genius_he-said-he-couldn-t-understand-a-world-s_2196562.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/274/frances-mayes-7779_artistic-genius_he-said-he-couldn-t-understand-a-world-s_2196562.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/274/frances-mayes-7779_artistic-genius_he-said-he-couldn-t-understand-a-world-s_2196562.png) > ““He said he couldn't understand a world 'shameless and cruel enough to divide its people by color when color is in fact the sign of God's artistic genius.”” [Frances Mayes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frances-mayes/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. It critiques a world that divides people by race despite the belief that color reflects divine creativity. **In simple terms:** Dividing by race ignores God's artistic design. Key Takeaway Recognize shared humanity beyond superficial differences. Themes eity diversity spirituality Mood reflective thoughtful Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - social justice work - interfaith dialogue - education on bias Key Concepts Theology social critique Questions to Reflect On - How does recognizing color as divine art change our view of racism? - What actions can we take to honor this belief? A Different Perspective It may overlook systemic power structures that enforce division. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Artistic genius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/artistic-genius/) [Couldn Understand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/couldn-understand/) [Divide People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/divide-people/) [God Artistic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/god-artistic-4807035/) [Understand World](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/understand-world/) ## Related quotes > [The philosophic spirit of inquiry may be traced to brute curiosity, and that to the habit of examining all things in search of food.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-winwood-reade/the-philosophic-spirit-of-inquiry-may-be-traced-to-brute-curiosity/) [William Winwood Reade](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-winwood-reade/) > [The mathematician's best work is art, a high perfect art, as daring as the most secret dreams of imagination, clear and limpid. Mathematical genius…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gosta-mittag-leffler/the-mathematician-s-best-work-is-art-a-high-perfect-art-as-daring-as/) [Gosta Mittag-Leffler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gosta-mittag-leffler/) > [“I think many of us live with this nagging sense that we could go deeper. That there is some elusive "next level" in our…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kate-kretz/i-think-many-of-us-live-with-this-nagging-sense-that-we-could-go/) [Kate Kretz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-kretz/) > [It should be quite clear that it is possible for unpleasant people who are small in various ways other than in their artistic genius…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fred-kaplan/it-should-be-quite-clear-that-it-is-possible-for-unpleasant-people/) [Fred Kaplan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fred-kaplan/) > [“But his own mind was helpless against every moment's headline. He did nothing but leap into the mass of changes and explore them and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-ondaatje/but-his-own-mind-was-helpless-against-every-moment-s-headline-he-did/) [Michael Ondaatje](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-ondaatje/) > [Mandelstam was an artistic genius, the sort that any century produces only a handful of.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christian-wiman/mandelstam-was-an-artistic-genius-the-sort-that-any-century-produces/) [Christian Wiman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christian-wiman/) > [The best revenge is the massive success.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-sinatra/the-best-revenge-is-the-massive-success/) [Frank Sinatra](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-sinatra/) > [To believe your own thought, to believe that what is true for you in your private heart is true for all men that is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/to-believe-your-own-thought-to-believe-that-what-is-true-for-you-in-2/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [Like Richard Ellmann on James Joyce, Arnold Rampersad on Ralph Ellison is in a class of its own. His masterful and magisterial book is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cornel-west/like-richard-ellmann-on-james-joyce-arnold-rampersad-on-ralph-ellison/) [Cornel West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cornel-west/) > [ The artist must be a philosopher. Socrates the skilled sculptor, Jean-Jacques \[Rousseau\] the good musician, and the immortal Poussin, tracing on the canvas the… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacques-louis-david/the-artist-must-be-a-philosopher-socrates-the-skilled-sculptor-jean/) [Jacques-Louis David](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacques-louis-david/) > [“This is not an age favourable to the development of artistic genius; it may be that for a time all forms of art will…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-jenkins/this-is-not-an-age-favourable-to-the-development-of-artistic-genius/) [Elizabeth Jenkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-jenkins/) > [Artistic genius is an expansion of monkey imitativeness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-winwood-reade/artistic-genius-is-an-expansion-of-monkey-imitativeness/) [William Winwood Reade](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-winwood-reade/) > [The base of all artistic genius is the power of conceiving humanity in a new, striking, rejoicing way, of putting a happy world ofits…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-pater/the-base-of-all-artistic-genius-is-the-power-of-conceiving-humanity/) [Walter Pater](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-pater/) > [My mother was an artist, and I was fairly good at art as a child. I was always the best drawer in class, except…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/natalie-babbitt/my-mother-was-an-artist-and-i-was-fairly-good-at-art-as-a-child-i-was/) [Natalie Babbitt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/natalie-babbitt/) > [THE SUFFERING OF GENIUS AND ITS VALUE. The artistic genius desires to give pleasure, but if his mind is on a very high plane…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/the-suffering-of-genius-and-its-value-the-artistic-genius-desires-to/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) ## More by Frances Mayes > [If you've got a plot the size of a car or a tiny yard in Italy, you're going to be growing tomatoes and basil…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frances-mayes/if-you-ve-got-a-plot-the-size-of-a-car-or-a-tiny-yard-in-italy-you-re/) [Frances Mayes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frances-mayes/) > [“Always, I liked the infinitive 'to go.' Let's go, let's go. let's really go. 'Andare' was the first verb I learned to conjugate in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frances-mayes/always-i-liked-the-infinitive-to-go-let-s-go-let-s-go-let-s-really-go/) [Frances Mayes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frances-mayes/) > [ “\[As Garibaldi says,\] 'Sleep, my dear Chevalley, sleep, that is what Sicilians want, and they will always hate anyone who tries to wake them...” ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frances-mayes/as-garibaldi-says-sleep-my-dear-chevalley-sleep-that-is-what/) [Frances Mayes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frances-mayes/) > [All afternoon in the deck chair, I try to describe to my notebook the colors of the water and sky. How to translate sunlight…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frances-mayes/all-afternoon-in-the-deck-chair-i-try-to-describe-to-my-notebook-the/) [Frances Mayes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frances-mayes/) > [Life offers you a thousand chances... all you have to do is take one.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frances-mayes/life-offers-you-a-thousand-chances-all-you-have-to-do-is-take-one/) [Frances Mayes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frances-mayes/) > [The Only Thing More Surprising Than the Chance She's Taking...Is Where It's Taking Her!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frances-mayes/the-only-thing-more-surprising-than-the-chance-she-s-taking-is-where/) [Frances Mayes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frances-mayes/) > [The Italians have their priorities right: They're driven, they do their work, but they really enjoy the day-to-day and they don't put off the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frances-mayes/the-italians-have-their-priorities-right-they-re-driven-they-do-their/) [Frances Mayes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frances-mayes/) > [Anytime the perfume of orange and lemon groves wafts in the window; the human body has to feel suffused with a languorous well-being.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frances-mayes/anytime-the-perfume-of-orange-and-lemon-groves-wafts-in-the-window/) [Frances Mayes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frances-mayes/) > [It’s daunting to find the language so foreign, so distant, but also so thrilling. One is absolved of responsibility when the language is incomprehensible.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frances-mayes/it-s-daunting-to-find-the-language-so-foreign-so-distant-but-also-so/) [Frances Mayes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frances-mayes/) > [“There are reasons we congregate in these hot spots- to worship beauty and to feel its effects light up the electrolytes in the bloodstream.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frances-mayes/there-are-reasons-we-congregate-in-these-hot-spots-to-worship-beauty/) [Frances Mayes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frances-mayes/) > [“And my mother, whose radius of travel was short, tied the letters with ribbon and kept them in her desk, When you get the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frances-mayes/and-my-mother-whose-radius-of-travel-was-short-tied-the-letters-with/) [Frances Mayes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frances-mayes/) > [I got the idea that to write books would be the best way to spend a life. I never thought of anything else that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frances-mayes/i-got-the-idea-that-to-write-books-would-be-the-best-way-to-spend-a/) [Frances Mayes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frances-mayes/) > [ “\[As Chevalley says,\] 'Sicilians never want to improve for the simple reason that they think themselves perfect...” ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frances-mayes/as-chevalley-says-sicilians-never-want-to-improve-for-the-simple/) [Frances Mayes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frances-mayes/) > [In America, people are just so straightforward when they dislike things.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frances-mayes/in-america-people-are-just-so-straightforward-when-they-dislike-things/) [Frances Mayes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frances-mayes/) > [“At Bramasole, the first secret spot that draws me outside is a stump and board bench on a high terrace overlooking the lake and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frances-mayes/at-bramasole-the-first-secret-spot-that-draws-me-outside-is-a-stump/) [Frances Mayes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frances-mayes/) [Explore all 86 Frances Mayes quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frances-mayes/) ## More Artistic genius quotes > [The philosophic spirit of inquiry may be traced to brute curiosity, and that to the habit of examining all things in search of food.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-winwood-reade/the-philosophic-spirit-of-inquiry-may-be-traced-to-brute-curiosity/) [William Winwood Reade](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-winwood-reade/) > [My mother was an artist, and I was fairly good at art as a child. I was always the best drawer in class, except…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/natalie-babbitt/my-mother-was-an-artist-and-i-was-fairly-good-at-art-as-a-child-i-was/) [Natalie Babbitt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/natalie-babbitt/) > [The base of all artistic genius is the power of conceiving humanity in a new, striking, rejoicing way, of putting a happy world ofits…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-pater/the-base-of-all-artistic-genius-is-the-power-of-conceiving-humanity/) [Walter Pater](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-pater/) > [Artistic genius is an expansion of monkey imitativeness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-winwood-reade/artistic-genius-is-an-expansion-of-monkey-imitativeness/) [William Winwood Reade](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-winwood-reade/) > [“This is not an age favourable to the development of artistic genius; it may be that for a time all forms of art will…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-jenkins/this-is-not-an-age-favourable-to-the-development-of-artistic-genius/) [Elizabeth Jenkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-jenkins/) > [ The artist must be a philosopher. Socrates the skilled sculptor, Jean-Jacques \[Rousseau\] the good musician, and the immortal Poussin, tracing on the canvas the… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacques-louis-david/the-artist-must-be-a-philosopher-socrates-the-skilled-sculptor-jean/) [Jacques-Louis David](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacques-louis-david/) > [Like Richard Ellmann on James Joyce, Arnold Rampersad on Ralph Ellison is in a class of its own. His masterful and magisterial book is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cornel-west/like-richard-ellmann-on-james-joyce-arnold-rampersad-on-ralph-ellison/) [Cornel West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cornel-west/) > [To believe your own thought, to believe that what is true for you in your private heart is true for all men that is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/to-believe-your-own-thought-to-believe-that-what-is-true-for-you-in-2/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [The best revenge is the massive success.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-sinatra/the-best-revenge-is-the-massive-success/) [Frank Sinatra](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-sinatra/) > [Mandelstam was an artistic genius, the sort that any century produces only a handful of.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christian-wiman/mandelstam-was-an-artistic-genius-the-sort-that-any-century-produces/) [Christian Wiman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christian-wiman/) > [“But his own mind was helpless against every moment's headline. He did nothing but leap into the mass of changes and explore them and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-ondaatje/but-his-own-mind-was-helpless-against-every-moment-s-headline-he-did/) [Michael Ondaatje](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-ondaatje/) > [It should be quite clear that it is possible for unpleasant people who are small in various ways other than in their artistic genius…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fred-kaplan/it-should-be-quite-clear-that-it-is-possible-for-unpleasant-people/) [Fred Kaplan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fred-kaplan/) > [“I think many of us live with this nagging sense that we could go deeper. That there is some elusive "next level" in our…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kate-kretz/i-think-many-of-us-live-with-this-nagging-sense-that-we-could-go/) [Kate Kretz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-kretz/) > [The mathematician's best work is art, a high perfect art, as daring as the most secret dreams of imagination, clear and limpid. Mathematical genius…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gosta-mittag-leffler/the-mathematician-s-best-work-is-art-a-high-perfect-art-as-daring-as/) [Gosta Mittag-Leffler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gosta-mittag-leffler/) > [THE SUFFERING OF GENIUS AND ITS VALUE. The artistic genius desires to give pleasure, but if his mind is on a very high plane…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/the-suffering-of-genius-and-its-value-the-artistic-genius-desires-to/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) [Browse all 18 Artistic genius quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/artistic-genius/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“He said he couldn't understand a world 'shameless and cruel enough to divide its people by color when color is in fact the sign of God's artistic genius.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Frances Mayes" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frances-mayes/he-said-he-couldn-t-understand-a-world-shameless-and-cruel-enough-to/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Artistic genius" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frances-mayes/he-said-he-couldn-t-understand-a-world-shameless-and-cruel-enough-to/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/274/frances-mayes-7779_artistic-genius_he-said-he-couldn-t-understand-a-world-s_2196562.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/274/frances-mayes-7779_artistic-genius_he-said-he-couldn-t-understand-a-world-s_2196562.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/274/frances-mayes-7779_artistic-genius_he-said-he-couldn-t-understand-a-world-s_2196562.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“He said he couldn't understand a world 'shameless and cruel enough to divide its people by color when color…” — Frances Mayes", "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": "Frances Mayes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frances-mayes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“He said he couldn't understand a...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frances-mayes/he-said-he-couldn-t-understand-a-world-shameless-and-cruel-enough-to/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frances-mayes/he-said-he-couldn-t-understand-a-world-shameless-and-cruel-enough-to/#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 } } ] } ```