--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I think art has a right — not an…" description: "\"I think art has a right — not an obligation — to be difficult if it wishes. And, since people generally go on from this to talk about elitism versus de..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8be/geoffrey-hill-28432_add_i-think-art-has-a-right-not-an-obligatio_1867146.png" --- # I think art has a right — not an obligation — to be… ![“I think art has a right — not an obligation — to be difficult if it wishes. And, since people generally go on from this to talk about elitism versus democracy, I would add that genuinely difficult art is truly democratic.” quote by Geoffrey Hill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8be/geoffrey-hill-28432_add_i-think-art-has-a-right-not-an-obligatio_1867146.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8be/geoffrey-hill-28432_add_i-think-art-has-a-right-not-an-obligatio_1867146.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8be/geoffrey-hill-28432_add_i-think-art-has-a-right-not-an-obligatio_1867146.png) > “I think art has a right — not an obligation — to be difficult if it wishes. And, since people generally go on from this to talk about elitism versus democracy, I would add that genuinely difficult art is truly democratic.” [Geoffrey Hill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/geoffrey-hill/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Difficult art challenges viewers, making it accessible to all by demanding effort, thus democratic. **In simple terms:** Hard art invites universal engagement. Key Takeaway Embrace challenging art as a democratic act. Themes art democracy accessibility Mood thoughtful critical Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - museum curation - art education - public installations Key Concepts aesthetics social theory Questions to Reflect On - What makes art feel inclusive? - How can difficult art be made more approachable? A Different Perspective Not everyone enjoys difficulty; some may feel excluded. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Add](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/add/) [Art](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/art/) [Art is](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/art-is/) [Art Truly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/art-truly-836260/) [Artist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/artist/) [Democracy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/democracy/) [Democratic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/democratic/) [Difficult](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/difficult/) [Difficult Art](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/difficult-art-698420/) [Elitism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/elitism/) [Elitism Versus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/elitism-versus-2552720/) [Goes on](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/goes-on/) [Ifs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ifs/) [Obligation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/obligation/) [People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people/) [Think Art](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/think-art/) [Thinking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thinking/) [Versus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/versus/) [Versus Democracy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/versus-democracy-2552719/) [Wish](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wish/) ## Related quotes > [I think what we are confronting now is a new war of ideas. It's not communism versus capitalism, but it is authoritarianism versus democracy…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adam-schiff/i-think-what-we-are-confronting-now-is-a-new-war-of-ideas-it-s-not/) [Adam Schiff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adam-schiff/) > [I like the elitism of the art world. I think art for the people is a terrible idea.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-waters/i-like-the-elitism-of-the-art-world-i-think-art-for-the-people-is-a/) [John Waters](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-waters/) > [“Mindfulness is the extremely difficult art of leaving the past and the future alone.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mokokoma-mokhonoana/mindfulness-is-the-extremely-difficult-art-of-leaving-the-past-and/) [Mokokoma Mokhonoana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mokokoma-mokhonoana/) > [the difficult art I was attempting had, indeed a powerful fascination, before which the past faded, the future receded, and the whole of experience…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-stewart/the-difficult-art-i-was-attempting-had-indeed-a-powerful-fascination/) [Mary Stewart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-stewart/) > [I think that music is a very difficult art form in which to be avant-garde. 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In reality it would seem that he is vanquished…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/napoleon-bonaparte/war-is-not-at-all-such-a-difficult-art-as-people-think-in-reality-it/) [Napoleon Bonaparte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/napoleon-bonaparte/) > [A world turned into a stereotype, a society converted into a regiment, a life translated into a routine, make it difficult for either art…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/franklin-d-roosevelt/a-world-turned-into-a-stereotype-a-society-converted-into-a-regiment/) [Franklin D. Roosevelt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/franklin-d-roosevelt/) > [There exists no more difficult art than living.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seneca-the-younger/there-exists-no-more-difficult-art-than-living/) [Seneca the Younger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seneca-the-younger/) > [To break and be able to grow together again in a better way: that is the difficult art.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/asger-jorn/to-break-and-be-able-to-grow-together-again-in-a-better-way-that-is/) [Asger Jorn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/asger-jorn/) > [“Stalking is a very difficult art to come to terms with, for in reality, you can’t apply yourself to it. This art inevitably has…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lujan-matus/stalking-is-a-very-difficult-art-to-come-to-terms-with-for-in-reality/) [Lujan Matus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lujan-matus/) > [A high price may be part of the mystique in selling difficult art.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-genn/a-high-price-may-be-part-of-the-mystique-in-selling-difficult-art/) [Robert Genn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-genn/) > [It is difficult in life to be good, and difficult in art to portray goodness. Perhaps we don't know much about goodness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/iris-murdoch/it-is-difficult-in-life-to-be-good-and-difficult-in-art-to-portray/) [Iris Murdoch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/iris-murdoch/) > [The most difficult art is not in the choice of men, but in giving to the men chosen the highest service of which they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/napoleon-bonaparte/the-most-difficult-art-is-not-in-the-choice-of-men-but-in-giving-to/) [Napoleon Bonaparte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/napoleon-bonaparte/) ## More by Geoffrey Hill > [Public toilets have a duty to be accessible, poetry does not.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/geoffrey-hill/public-toilets-have-a-duty-to-be-accessible-poetry-does-not/) [Geoffrey Hill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/geoffrey-hill/) > [“Recall the cold Of Towton on Palm Sunday before dawn, Wakefield, Tewkesbury : fastidious trumpets Shrilling into the ruck ; some trampled Acres, parched,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/geoffrey-hill/recall-the-cold-of-towton-on-palm-sunday-before-dawn-wakefield/) [Geoffrey Hill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/geoffrey-hill/) > [Platonic England, house of solitudes, rests in its laurels and its injured stone](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/geoffrey-hill/platonic-england-house-of-solitudes-rests-in-its-laurels-and-its/) [Geoffrey Hill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/geoffrey-hill/) > [As estimated, you died. Things marched, sufficient, to that end. Just so much Zyklon and leather, patented terror, so many routine cries.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/geoffrey-hill/as-estimated-you-died-things-marched-sufficient-to-that-end-just-so/) [Geoffrey Hill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/geoffrey-hill/) > [We are difficult. Human beings are difficult. We're difficult to ourselves, we're difficult to each other. And we are mysteries to ourselves, we are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/geoffrey-hill/we-are-difficult-human-beings-are-difficult-we-re-difficult-to/) [Geoffrey Hill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/geoffrey-hill/) > [“fierce tea making in time of war,”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/geoffrey-hill/fierce-tea-making-in-time-of-war/) [Geoffrey Hill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/geoffrey-hill/) > [We are difficult. Human beings are difficult. We’re difficult to ourselves, we’re difficult to each other.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/geoffrey-hill/we-are-difficult-human-beings-are-difficult-we-re-difficult-to-2/) [Geoffrey Hill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/geoffrey-hill/) > [Dig -- the mostly uncouth -- language of grace.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/geoffrey-hill/dig-the-mostly-uncouth-language-of-grace/) [Geoffrey Hill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/geoffrey-hill/) > [“Not as we are but as we must appear, contractual ghosts of pity; not as we desire life, but as they would have us…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/geoffrey-hill/not-as-we-are-but-as-we-must-appear-contractual-ghosts-of-pity-not-as/) [Geoffrey Hill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/geoffrey-hill/) > [“I wouldn't mind dispatching all 3 of my room mates vile felines in this apartment. Nasty beasts. I'm just afraid I wouldn't be able…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/geoffrey-hill/i-wouldn-t-mind-dispatching-all-3-of-my-room-mates-vile-felines-in/) [Geoffrey Hill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/geoffrey-hill/) > [Autumn resumes the land, ruffles the woods with smoky wings, entangles them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/geoffrey-hill/autumn-resumes-the-land-ruffles-the-woods-with-smoky-wings-entangles/) [Geoffrey Hill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/geoffrey-hill/) > [“Evil is not good's absence but gravity's everlasting bedrock and its fatal chains inert, violent, the suffrage of our days.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/geoffrey-hill/evil-is-not-good-s-absence-but-gravity-s-everlasting-bedrock-and-its/) [Geoffrey Hill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/geoffrey-hill/) > [September fattens on vines. Roses flake from the wall. The smoke of harmless fires drifts to my eyes. This is plenty. This is more…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/geoffrey-hill/september-fattens-on-vines-roses-flake-from-the-wall-the-smoke-of/) [Geoffrey Hill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/geoffrey-hill/) > [“Who now would thrust enquiry on / Beyond necessity of desire?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/geoffrey-hill/who-now-would-thrust-enquiry-on-beyond-necessity-of-desire/) [Geoffrey Hill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/geoffrey-hill/) > [... one of the things the tyrant most cunningly engineers is the gross over-simplification of language, because propaganda requires that the minds of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/geoffrey-hill/one-of-the-things-the-tyrant-most-cunningly-engineers-is-the-gross/) [Geoffrey Hill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/geoffrey-hill/) [Explore all 19 Geoffrey Hill quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/geoffrey-hill/) ## More Add quotes > [Most marriages don't add two people together. 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