---
title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Reason exercises merely the function of…"
description: "\"Reason exercises merely the function of preserving order, is, so to say, the police in the region of art. In life it is mostly a cold arithmetician sum..."
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/731/heinrich-heine-1170_art_reason-exercises-merely-the-function-of_2797980.jpg"
---

#  Reason exercises merely the function of preserving order…

![“Reason exercises merely the function of preserving order, is, so to say, the police in the region of art. In life it is mostly a cold arithmetician summing up our follies.” quote by Heinrich Heine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/731/heinrich-heine-1170_art_reason-exercises-merely-the-function-of_2797980.jpg)   [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/731/heinrich-heine-1170_art_reason-exercises-merely-the-function-of_2797980.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/731/heinrich-heine-1170_art_reason-exercises-merely-the-function-of_2797980.jpg)

> “Reason exercises merely the function of preserving order, is, so to say, the police in the region of art. In life it is mostly a cold arithmetician summing up our follies.”

[Heinrich Heine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/heinrich-heine/)

## About This Quote

This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation.

Art is used to maintain order, acting like police, reducing creativity to cold calculation.

**In simple terms:** Art is controlled, losing spontaneity.

Key Takeaway

Encourage freedom in artistic expression.

Themes

art order control creativity

Mood

critical thoughtful

Type

philosophical analytical

When to use this quote

- creative workshops
- educational curricula
- policy debates

Key Concepts

censorship artistic freedom societal norms

Questions to Reflect On

- How does control affect artistic growth?
- Can art thrive under regulation?

A Different Perspective

Strict order can stifle innovation.

★ ★ ★ ★ ★   No ratings yet

[Art](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/art/) [Art In Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/art-in-life-213624/) [Cold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cold/) [Cold Arithmetician](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cold-arithmetician-3427997/) [Exercise](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/exercise/) [Exercises Merely](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/exercises-merely-3427998/) [Folly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/folly/) [Function](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/function/) [Order](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/order/) [Police](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/police/) [Preserving Order](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/preserving-order-3427999/) [Reason](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/reason/) [Reason Exercises](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/reason-exercises-3427996/) [Regions](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/regions/) [Summing up](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/summing-up/)

## Related quotes

> [Never give up! Keep practicing - it's the only way to get better. But don't lose sight of the outside world. As an artist,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-landes/never-give-up-keep-practicing-it-s-the-only-way-to-get-better-but-don/)

[Steve Landes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-landes/)

> [We find life in art and we find art in life!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mehmet-murat-ildan/we-find-life-in-art-and-we-find-art-in-life/)

[Mehmet Murat Ildan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mehmet-murat-ildan/)

> [The greatest art in life is to believe in Christ. That art is learned only in the Holy Spirit's school.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christian-scriver/the-greatest-art-in-life-is-to-believe-in-christ-that-art-is-learned/)

[Christian Scriver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christian-scriver/)

> [If I'm going to be anything more than average, if anyone is going to remember me, then I need to go further, in art,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/salvador-dali/if-i-m-going-to-be-anything-more-than-average-if-anyone-is-going-to/)

[Salvador Dali](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/salvador-dali/)

> [I believe in it, and I trust it too and treasure it above everything, the personal, the personal, the personal! I put my faith…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eudora-welty/i-believe-in-it-and-i-trust-it-too-and-treasure-it-above-everything/)

[Eudora Welty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eudora-welty/)

> [Rhetoric takes no real account of the art in literature and morality takes no account of the art in life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-wood-krutch/rhetoric-takes-no-real-account-of-the-art-in-literature-and-morality/)

[Joseph Wood Krutch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-wood-krutch/)

> [What is literary tradition? What is a classic? What is a canonical view of tradition? How are canons of accepted classics formed,and how are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harold-bloom/what-is-literary-tradition-what-is-a-classic-what-is-a-canonical-view/)

[Harold Bloom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harold-bloom/)

> [There is a sort of man who pays no attention to his good actions, but is tormented by his bad ones. This is the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-somerset-maugham/there-is-a-sort-of-man-who-pays-no-attention-to-his-good-actions-but/)

[W. Somerset Maugham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-somerset-maugham/)

> [On the train: staring hypnotized at the blackness outside the window, feeling the incomparable rhythmic language of the wheels, clacking out nursery rhymes, summing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-plath/on-the-train-staring-hypnotized-at-the-blackness-outside-the-window/)

[Sylvia Plath](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-plath/)

> [You're a materialist, like all ignorant people. But your materialism doesn't make materialism true. Don't you know that? In the final summing up, it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gene-wolfe/you-re-a-materialist-like-all-ignorant-people-but-your-materialism/)

[Gene Wolfe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gene-wolfe/)

> [For the Fall of the year is more than three months bounded by an equinox and a solstice. It is a summing up without…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hal-borland/for-the-fall-of-the-year-is-more-than-three-months-bounded-by-an/)

[Hal Borland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hal-borland/)

> [The law that will work is merely the summing up in legislative form of the moral judgment that the community has already reached.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/woodrow-wilson/the-law-that-will-work-is-merely-the-summing-up-in-legislative-form/)

[Woodrow Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/woodrow-wilson/)

> [An intelligently planned feast is like a summing up of the whole world, where each part is represented by its envoys.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-anthelme-brillat-savarin/an-intelligently-planned-feast-is-like-a-summing-up-of-the-whole/)

[Jean Anthelme Brillat-Savarin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-anthelme-brillat-savarin/)

> [I want to know that I've accomplished something. I want to feel that it had some meaning. At the last summing up, I want…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ayn-rand/i-want-to-know-that-i-ve-accomplished-something-i-want-to-feel-that/)

[Ayn Rand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ayn-rand/)

> [Many writers tend to write summing-up books at the end of their lives.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/v-s-naipaul/many-writers-tend-to-write-summing-up-books-at-the-end-of-their-lives/)

[V. S. Naipaul](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/v-s-naipaul/)

## More by Heinrich Heine

> [Great genius takes shape by contact with another great genius, but, less by assimilation than by friction.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/heinrich-heine/great-genius-takes-shape-by-contact-with-another-great-genius-but/)

[Heinrich Heine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/heinrich-heine/)

> [Lo, sleep is good, better is death--in sooth The best of all were never to be born.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/heinrich-heine/lo-sleep-is-good-better-is-death-in-sooth-the-best-of-all-were-never/)

[Heinrich Heine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/heinrich-heine/)

> [Ordinarily he was insane, but he had lucid moments when he was merely stupid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/heinrich-heine/ordinarily-he-was-insane-but-he-had-lucid-moments-when-he-was-merely/)

[Heinrich Heine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/heinrich-heine/)

> [Human misery is too great for men to do without faith.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/heinrich-heine/human-misery-is-too-great-for-men-to-do-without-faith/)

[Heinrich Heine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/heinrich-heine/)

> [Every age has its problem, by solving which humanity is helped forward.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/heinrich-heine/every-age-has-its-problem-by-solving-which-humanity-is-helped-forward/)

[Heinrich Heine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/heinrich-heine/)

> [The beauteous dragonfly's dancing By the waves of the rivulet glancing; She dances here and she dances there, The glimmering, glittering flutterer fair. Full…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/heinrich-heine/the-beauteous-dragonfly-s-dancing-by-the-waves-of-the-rivulet/)

[Heinrich Heine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/heinrich-heine/)

> [I am no longer a divine biped. I am no longer the freest German after Goethe, as Ruge named me in healthier days. I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/heinrich-heine/i-am-no-longer-a-divine-biped-i-am-no-longer-the-freest-german-after/)

[Heinrich Heine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/heinrich-heine/)

> [First, I thought, almost despairing, This must crush my spirit now; Yet I bore it, and am bearing- Only do not ask me how.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/heinrich-heine/first-i-thought-almost-despairing-this-must-crush-my-spirit-now-yet-i/)

[Heinrich Heine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/heinrich-heine/)

> [Nothing is more futile than theorizing about music. No doubt there are laws, mathematically strict laws, but these laws are not music; they are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/heinrich-heine/nothing-is-more-futile-than-theorizing-about-music-no-doubt-there-are/)

[Heinrich Heine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/heinrich-heine/)

> [A lonely fir-tree is standing On a northern barren height; It sleeps, and the ice and snow-drift Cast round it a garment of white.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/heinrich-heine/a-lonely-fir-tree-is-standing-on-a-northern-barren-height-it-sleeps/)

[Heinrich Heine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/heinrich-heine/)

> [Thought is invisible nature.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/heinrich-heine/thought-is-invisible-nature/)

[Heinrich Heine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/heinrich-heine/)

> [“Still is the night, it quiets the streets down, In that window my love would appear; She's long since gone away from this town,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/heinrich-heine/still-is-the-night-it-quiets-the-streets-down-in-that-window-my-love/)

[Heinrich Heine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/heinrich-heine/)

> [The dragon-fly is dancing,— Is on the water glancing, She flits about with nimble wing, The flickering, fluttering, restless thing. Besotted chafers all admire…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/heinrich-heine/the-dragon-fly-is-dancing-is-on-the-water-glancing-she-flits-about/)

[Heinrich Heine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/heinrich-heine/)

> [There is one thing on earth more terrible than English music, and that is English painting.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/heinrich-heine/there-is-one-thing-on-earth-more-terrible-than-english-music-and-that/)

[Heinrich Heine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/heinrich-heine/)

> [He is noble who both feels and acts nobly.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/heinrich-heine/he-is-noble-who-both-feels-and-acts-nobly/)

[Heinrich Heine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/heinrich-heine/)

[Explore all 262 Heinrich Heine quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/heinrich-heine/)

## 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](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/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": "Reason exercises merely the function of preserving order, is, so to say, the police in the region of art. In life it is mostly a cold arithmetician summing up our follies.",
            "creator": {
                "@type": "Person",
                "name": "Heinrich Heine"
            },
            "isPartOf": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website"
            },
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/heinrich-heine/reason-exercises-merely-the-function-of-preserving-order-is-so-to-say/",
            "about": {
                "@type": "Thing",
                "name": "Art"
            },
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/heinrich-heine/reason-exercises-merely-the-function-of-preserving-order-is-so-to-say/#quotation",
            "image": {
                "@type": "ImageObject",
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/731/heinrich-heine-1170_art_reason-exercises-merely-the-function-of_2797980.jpg",
                "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/731/heinrich-heine-1170_art_reason-exercises-merely-the-function-of_2797980.jpg",
                "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/731/heinrich-heine-1170_art_reason-exercises-merely-the-function-of_2797980.jpg",
                "width": 1080,
                "height": 1080,
                "caption": "“Reason exercises merely the function of preserving order, is, so to say, the police in the region of art. In…” — Heinrich Heine",
                "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": "Heinrich Heine",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/heinrich-heine/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 4,
                    "name": "Reason exercises merely the function of...",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/heinrich-heine/reason-exercises-merely-the-function-of-preserving-order-is-so-to-say/"
                }
            ],
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/heinrich-heine/reason-exercises-merely-the-function-of-preserving-order-is-so-to-say/#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
            }
        }
    ]
}
```
