--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: One might be tempted to extol as an…" description: "\"“One might be tempted to extol as an advance over Sophocles the radical tendency of Euripides to produce a proper relation between art and the public. ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ce1/friedrich-nietzsche-15_art_one-might-be-tempted-to-extol-as-an-adva_2849145.jpg" --- # One might be tempted to extol as an advance over Sophocles… ![“One might be tempted to extol as an advance over Sophocles the radical tendency of Euripides to produce a proper relation between art and the public. But "public," after all, is a mere word. In no sense is it a homogeneous and constant quantity. Why should the artist be bound to accommodate…” quote by Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ce1/friedrich-nietzsche-15_art_one-might-be-tempted-to-extol-as-an-adva_2849145.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ce1/friedrich-nietzsche-15_art_one-might-be-tempted-to-extol-as-an-adva_2849145.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ce1/friedrich-nietzsche-15_art_one-might-be-tempted-to-extol-as-an-adva_2849145.jpg) > ““One might be tempted to extol as an advance over Sophocles the radical tendency of Euripides to produce a proper relation between art and the public. But "public," after all, is a mere word. In no sense is it a homogeneous and constant quantity. Why should the artist be bound to accommodate himself to a power whose strength lies solely in numbers? And if, by virtue of his endowments and aspirations, he should feel himself superior to every one of these spectators, how could he feel greater respect for the collective expression of all these subordinate capacities than for the relatively highest-endowed individual spectator?”” [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Nietzsche questions whether art should cater to the masses, arguing that true artistic value lies in engaging the most discerning individual rather than a uniform public. **In simple terms:** Art should aim at the highest individual, not the average crowd. Key Takeaway Create work that challenges and elevates the discerning mind. Themes art philosophy individualism public vs private cultural criticism Mood critical thought‑provoking skeptical Type philosophical cultural critique When to use this quote - curatorial decisions - educational curricula - public art installations Key Concepts aesthetic elitism mass culture spectator hierarchy Questions to Reflect On - Can art be both elite and accessible? - What responsibilities do artists have to society? A Different Perspective The view dismisses the social function of art and can alienate broader audiences. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Art](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/art/) [Artist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/artist/) ## Related quotes > [“He who has perceived the material out of which the Promethean tragic writers prior to Euripides formed their heroes, and how remote from their…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/he-who-has-perceived-the-material-out-of-which-the-promethean-tragic/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [What's interesting about art in public spaces is that the public really sort of takes over and uses it in ways that you didn't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/teresita-fernandez/what-s-interesting-about-art-in-public-spaces-is-that-the-public/) [Teresita Fernandez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/teresita-fernandez/) > [Teams are a collective expression.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ronaldo/teams-are-a-collective-expression/) [Ronaldo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ronaldo/) > [Among the few I have indicated, is there no dynamic man of action, the rebel who will help determine the aspect of the collective…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/piet-zwart/among-the-few-i-have-indicated-is-there-no-dynamic-man-of-action-the/) Piet Zwart > [Family is a collective expression of individual perspective-a living work of art.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wes-fesler/family-is-a-collective-expression-of-individual-perspective-a-living/) [Wes Fesler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wes-fesler/) > [“Religion arose out of celebration and its opposite, bereavement, both of which cry out for collective expression.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/huston-smith/religion-arose-out-of-celebration-and-its-opposite-bereavement-both/) [Huston Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/huston-smith/) > [My art became very public.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joey-skaggs/my-art-became-very-public/) [Joey Skaggs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joey-skaggs/) > [If people think of public art as something the public decides, it's impossible to make anything of substance.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-graham/if-people-think-of-public-art-as-something-the-public-decides-it-s/) Robert Graham > [In art, the public accept what has been, because they cannot alter it, not because they appreciate it. They swallow their classics whole, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oscar-wilde/in-art-the-public-accept-what-has-been-because-they-cannot-alter-it/) [Oscar Wilde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oscar-wilde/) > [Critics have a job to do. I understand that. It's not just to criticize. They're trying to interpret art for the public.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-emsley/critics-have-a-job-to-do-i-understand-that-it-s-not-just-to-criticize/) [Paul Emsley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-emsley/) > [The designer of today re-establishes the long-lost contact between art and the public, between living people and art as a living thing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bruno-munari/the-designer-of-today-re-establishes-the-long-lost-contact-between/) [Bruno Munari](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bruno-munari/) > [I have no illusions about my art. I am what the public made me and, consequently, I am not likely to forget my debt…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/conrad-veidt/i-have-no-illusions-about-my-art-i-am-what-the-public-made-me-and/) [Conrad Veidt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/conrad-veidt/) > [The definition of public art to me means everything and means nothing because for me, all art is public. Art has to be public…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emi-fontana/the-definition-of-public-art-to-me-means-everything-and-means-nothing/) Emi Fontana > [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/) > [One is a painter because one wants so-called freedom; one doesn't want to go to the office every morning.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-duchamp/one-is-a-painter-because-one-wants-so-called-freedom-one-doesn-t-want/) [Marcel Duchamp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcel-duchamp/) ## More by Friedrich Nietzsche > [Animals know nothing of themselves, and they also know nothing of the world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/animals-know-nothing-of-themselves-and-they-also-know-nothing-of-the/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [“Every select man strives instinctively for a citadel and a privacy, where he is FREE from the crowd, the many, the majority-- where he…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/every-select-man-strives-instinctively-for-a-citadel-and-a-privacy/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [“It breaks my heart. Better than your words, your eye tells me all your peril. You are not yet free, you still search for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/it-breaks-my-heart-better-than-your-words-your-eye-tells-me-all-your/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [“79. A soul which knows that it is loved, but does not itself love, betrays its sediment: its dregs come up.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/79-a-soul-which-knows-that-it-is-loved-but-does-not-itself-love/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [We deceive ourselves when giving respect to the person for whom we have surrendered ourselves, when we respectively expect them to be as we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/we-deceive-ourselves-when-giving-respect-to-the-person-for-whom-we/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [“The great periods of our life occur when we gain the courage to rechristen what is bad about us as what is best.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/the-great-periods-of-our-life-occur-when-we-gain-the-courage-to/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [“What is life? Life - that is: continually shedding something that wants to die. Life - that is: being cruel and inexorable against everything…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/what-is-life-life-that-is-continually-shedding-something-that-wants/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [It is thus only this personal feeling of misery that we get rid of by acts of pity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/it-is-thus-only-this-personal-feeling-of-misery-that-we-get-rid-of-by/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [“Writers whose thoughts are expressed with clarity and precision are assumed by readers to be superficial. Where the meaning is obscured, then readers give…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/writers-whose-thoughts-are-expressed-with-clarity-and-precision-are/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [“he does not wear a twitching, mobile, human face, but rather a mask, as it were, with its features in dignified equilibrium; he does…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/he-does-not-wear-a-twitching-mobile-human-face-but-rather-a-mask-as/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [Chastity is a virtue with some, but with many it is almost a vice.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/chastity-is-a-virtue-with-some-but-with-many-it-is-almost-a-vice/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [The earth is like the breasts of a woman: useful as well as pleasing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/the-earth-is-like-the-breasts-of-a-woman-useful-as-well-as-pleasing/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [“Of all that is written I love only what a man has written in his own blood.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/of-all-that-is-written-i-love-only-what-a-man-has-written-in-his-own/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [No shepherd and one herd! Everybody wants the same, everybody is the same: whoever feels different goes voluntarily into a madhouse.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/no-shepherd-and-one-herd-everybody-wants-the-same-everybody-is-the/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [Pain makes hens and poets cackle.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/pain-makes-hens-and-poets-cackle/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) [Explore all 3,486 Friedrich Nietzsche quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) ## 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. 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But \"public,\" after all, is a mere word. In no sense is it a homogeneous and constant quantity. Why should the artist be bound to accommodate himself to a power whose strength lies solely in numbers? 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