--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Art is the nearest thing to life; it is a…" description: "\"Art is the nearest thing to life; it is a mode of amplifying experience and extending our contact with our fellow men beyond the bounds of our personal..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1cc/george-eliot-84_art_art-is-the-nearest-thing-to-life-it-is-a_1142330.png" --- # Art is the nearest thing to life; it is a mode of… ![“Art is the nearest thing to life; it is a mode of amplifying experience and extending our contact with our fellow men beyond the bounds of our personal lot.” quote by George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1cc/george-eliot-84_art_art-is-the-nearest-thing-to-life-it-is-a_1142330.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1cc/george-eliot-84_art_art-is-the-nearest-thing-to-life-it-is-a_1142330.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1cc/george-eliot-84_art_art-is-the-nearest-thing-to-life-it-is-a_1142330.png) > “Art is the nearest thing to life; it is a mode of amplifying experience and extending our contact with our fellow men beyond the bounds of our personal lot.” [George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Art deepifies human experience, connecting us beyond personal limits. **In simple terms:** Art expands and connects. Key Takeaway Use art to broaden perspective. Themes creativity connection humanity Mood reflective inspirational Type philosophical creative When to use this quote - personal growth - community building - cultural exchange - healing - education Key Concepts aesthetic experience empathy Questions to Reflect On - How can you let art deepen your relationships? - What boundaries does art help you cross? A Different Perspective Art may not replace lived experience, only enhance it. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Art](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/art/) [Artist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/artist/) [Bounds](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bounds/) [Fellow man](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fellow-man/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Men](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/men/) ## Related quotes > [Work is the nearest thing to happiness that I can find.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zora-neale-hurston/work-is-the-nearest-thing-to-happiness-that-i-can-find/) [Zora Neale Hurston](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zora-neale-hurston/) > [“You are the nearest thing I have to life. You are the only thing I have left, the only thing that isn’t bleak and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-gaiman/you-are-the-nearest-thing-i-have-to-life-you-are-the-only-thing-i/) [Neil Gaiman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-gaiman/) > [Shakespeare - The nearest thing in incarnation to the eye of God.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laurence-olivier/shakespeare-the-nearest-thing-in-incarnation-to-the-eye-of-god/) [Laurence Olivier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laurence-olivier/) > [In civilized life, where the happiness and indeed almost the existence of man, depends on the opinion of his fellow men. He is constantly…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeremy-collier/in-civilized-life-where-the-happiness-and-indeed-almost-the-existence-2/) [Jeremy Collier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeremy-collier/) > [If there be gods we cannot help them, but we can assist our fellow men. We cannot love the inconceivable, but we can love…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-green-ingersoll/if-there-be-gods-we-cannot-help-them-but-we-can-assist-our-fellow-men/) [Robert Green Ingersoll](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-green-ingersoll/) > [Be Grateful to the Man you help, think of Him as God. Is it not a great privilege to be allowed to worship God…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/swami-vivekananda/be-grateful-to-the-man-you-help-think-of-him-as-god-is-it-not-a-great/) [Swami Vivekananda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/swami-vivekananda/) > [“Make your fellow men know by your actions in the days when you can reach them and help them, you appreciate their real worth.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/curt-brown/make-your-fellow-men-know-by-your-actions-in-the-days-when-you-can/) Curt Brown > [I have the utmost respect for the different faiths professed by my fellow men.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leverett-saltonstall/i-have-the-utmost-respect-for-the-different-faiths-professed-by-my/) [Leverett Saltonstall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leverett-saltonstall/) > [Write me as one who loves his fellow men.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leigh-hunt/write-me-as-one-who-loves-his-fellow-men/) [Leigh Hunt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leigh-hunt/) > [Give us a man of God's own mould Born to marshall his fellow-men; One whose fame is not bought and sold At the stroke…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edmund-clarence-stedman/give-us-a-man-of-god-s-own-mould-born-to-marshall-his-fellow-men-one/) [Edmund Clarence Stedman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edmund-clarence-stedman/) > [Have I done aught of value to my fellow-men? Then have I done much for myself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johann-kaspar-lavater/have-i-done-aught-of-value-to-my-fellow-men-then-have-i-done-much-for/) [Johann Kaspar Lavater](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johann-kaspar-lavater/) > [No man has any natural authority over his fellow men.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-jacques-rousseau/no-man-has-any-natural-authority-over-his-fellow-men/) [Jean-Jacques Rousseau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-jacques-rousseau/) > [The good opinion of our fellow men is the strongest, though not the purest motive to virtue.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-caleb-colton/the-good-opinion-of-our-fellow-men-is-the-strongest-though-not-the/) [Charles Caleb Colton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-caleb-colton/) > [In the depths of my heart I can’t help being convinced that my dear fellow-men, with a few exceptions, are worthless.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sigmund-freud/in-the-depths-of-my-heart-i-can-t-help-being-convinced-that-my-dear/) [Sigmund Freud](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sigmund-freud/) > [There is always a type of man who says he loves his fellow men, and expects to make a living at it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-w-howe/there-is-always-a-type-of-man-who-says-he-loves-his-fellow-men-and/) [E. W. Howe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-w-howe/) ## More by George Eliot > [There are various orders of beauty, causing men to make fools of themselves in various styles.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/there-are-various-orders-of-beauty-causing-men-to-make-fools-of/) [George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/) > [But the effect of her being on those around her was incalculably diffusive: for the growing good of the world is partly dependent on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/but-the-effect-of-her-being-on-those-around-her-was-incalculably/) [George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/) > [Scepticismcan never be thoroughly applied, else life would come to a standstill.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/scepticismcan-never-be-thoroughly-applied-else-life-would-come-to-a/) [George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/) > [Under every guilty secret there is hidden a brood of guilty wishes, whose unwholesome infecting life is cherished by the darkness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/under-every-guilty-secret-there-is-hidden-a-brood-of-guilty-wishes/) [George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/) > [The most powerful movement of feeling with a liturgy is the prayer which seeks for nothing special, but is a yearning to escape from…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/the-most-powerful-movement-of-feeling-with-a-liturgy-is-the-prayer/) [George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/) > [ “\[W\]e must learn to accommodate ourselves to the discovery that some of those cunningly-fashioned instruments called human souls have only a very limited range… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/w-e-must-learn-to-accommodate-ourselves-to-the-discovery-that-some-of/) [George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/) > [“Mr. Casaubon had never had a strong bodily frame, and his soul was sensitive without being enthusiastic: it was too languid to thrill out…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/mr-casaubon-had-never-had-a-strong-bodily-frame-and-his-soul-was/) [George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/) > [“... she took her husband's jokes and joviality as patiently as everything else, considering that "men would be so", and viewing the stronger sex…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/she-took-her-husband-s-jokes-and-joviality-as-patiently-as-everything/) [George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/) > [What is opportunity to the man who can't use it? An unfecundated egg, which the waves of time wash away into nonentity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/what-is-opportunity-to-the-man-who-can-t-use-it-an-unfecundated-egg/) [George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/) > [And, of course men know best about everything, except what women know better.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/and-of-course-men-know-best-about-everything-except-what-women-know/) [George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/) > [“But let the wise be warned against too great readiness at explanation: it multiplies the sources of mistake, lengthening the sum for reckoners sure…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/but-let-the-wise-be-warned-against-too-great-readiness-at-explanation/) [George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/) > [“But any one watching keenly the stealthy convergence of human lots, sees a slow preparation of effects from one life on another, which tells…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/but-any-one-watching-keenly-the-stealthy-convergence-of-human-lots/) [George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/) > [Perspective, as its inventor remarked, is a beautiful thing. What horrors of damp huts, where human beings languish, may not become picturesque through aerial…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/perspective-as-its-inventor-remarked-is-a-beautiful-thing-what/) [George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/) > [“Sane people did what their neighbours did, so that if any lunatics were at large, one might know and avoid them.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/sane-people-did-what-their-neighbours-did-so-that-if-any-lunatics/) [George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/) > [even those who call themselves 'intimate' know very little about each other - hardly ever know just how a sorrow is felt, and hurt…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/even-those-who-call-themselves-intimate-know-very-little-about-each/) [George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/) [Explore all 1,492 George Eliot quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/) ## 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": "Art is the nearest thing to life; it is a mode of amplifying experience and extending our contact with our fellow men beyond the bounds of our personal lot.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "George Eliot" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/art-is-the-nearest-thing-to-life-it-is-a-mode-of-amplifying/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Art" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/art-is-the-nearest-thing-to-life-it-is-a-mode-of-amplifying/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1cc/george-eliot-84_art_art-is-the-nearest-thing-to-life-it-is-a_1142330.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1cc/george-eliot-84_art_art-is-the-nearest-thing-to-life-it-is-a_1142330.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1cc/george-eliot-84_art_art-is-the-nearest-thing-to-life-it-is-a_1142330.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Art is the nearest thing to life; it is a mode of amplifying experience and extending our contact with our…” — George Eliot", "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": "George Eliot", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Art is the nearest thing to...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/art-is-the-nearest-thing-to-life-it-is-a-mode-of-amplifying/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/art-is-the-nearest-thing-to-life-it-is-a-mode-of-amplifying/#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 } } ] } ```