--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Dr Sass…maintained that in paradise…" description: "\"“Dr Sass…maintained that in paradise, until the time of the fall, the whole world was flat, the back-curtain of the Lord, and that it was the devil who..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f3d/isak-dinesen-3174_art_dr-sass-maintained-that-in-paradise-unti_302650.jpg" --- # Dr Sass…maintained that in paradise, until the time of the… ![“Dr Sass…maintained that in paradise, until the time of the fall, the whole world was flat, the back-curtain of the Lord, and that it was the devil who invented a third dimension. Thus are the words ‘straight’, ‘square’, and ‘flat’ the words of noblemen, but the apple was an orb, and the sin of our…” quote by Isak Dinesen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f3d/isak-dinesen-3174_art_dr-sass-maintained-that-in-paradise-unti_302650.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f3d/isak-dinesen-3174_art_dr-sass-maintained-that-in-paradise-unti_302650.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f3d/isak-dinesen-3174_art_dr-sass-maintained-that-in-paradise-unti_302650.jpg) > ““Dr Sass…maintained that in paradise, until the time of the fall, the whole world was flat, the back-curtain of the Lord, and that it was the devil who invented a third dimension. Thus are the words ‘straight’, ‘square’, and ‘flat’ the words of noblemen, but the apple was an orb, and the sin of our first parents, the attempt at getting around God. I myself much prefer the art of painting to sculpture”” [Isak Dinesen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isak-dinesen/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The passage sat flatness as a divine order, with dimensions seen as a rebellion against God, and prefers painting over sculpture. **In simple terms:** Flatness symbolizes divine order; dimensions represent rebellion; painting favored over sculpture. Key Takeaway Embrace simplicity and question imposed complexity. Themes philosophy art theology creativity Mood reflective thoughtful Type analytical inspirational When to use this quote - discussing art theory - exploring theological metaphors - debating visual mediums Key Concepts metaphor symbolism aesthetic preference Questions to Reflect On - Do we limit ourselves by accepting only one perspective? - How does medium choice affect meaning? A Different Perspective Some may argue dimensions are natural, not sinful. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Art](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/art/) [Devil](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/devil/) [God](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/god/) [Painting](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/painting/) [Religion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/religion/) [Sculpture](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sculpture/) [Time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time/) [Whole world](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/whole-world/) ## Related quotes > [The Devil invented gambling.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/saint-augustine/the-devil-invented-gambling/) [Saint Augustine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/saint-augustine/) > [“I like slang words, straight to the point. I like words of wisdom, straight to the heart.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/toba-beta/i-like-slang-words-straight-to-the-point-i-like-words-of-wisdom/) [Toba Beta](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/toba-beta/) > [...I would think how words go straight up in a thin line, quick and harmless, and how terribly doing goes along the earth, clinging…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-faulkner/i-would-think-how-words-go-straight-up-in-a-thin-line-quick-and/) [William Faulkner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-faulkner/) > [“I didn't give it much thought back then. I just wanted to get all the words straight and collect my A.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gayle-forman/i-didn-t-give-it-much-thought-back-then-i-just-wanted-to-get-all-the/) [Gayle Forman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gayle-forman/) > [I was in Bangalore, India, the Silicon Valley of India, when I realized that the world was flat.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-friedman/i-was-in-bangalore-india-the-silicon-valley-of-india-when-i-realized/) [Thomas Friedman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-friedman/) > [I think the world is flat because I've been tossed right off the edge and I've been trying to hold on and I've been…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frenz-jeffrey/i-think-the-world-is-flat-because-i-ve-been-tossed-right-off-the-edge/) [Frenz Jeffrey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frenz-jeffrey/) > [Common sense tells us that the world is flat, that the sun goes around the earth, that heavy bodies always fall faster than light…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stuart-chase/common-sense-tells-us-that-the-world-is-flat-that-the-sun-goes-around/) [Stuart Chase](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stuart-chase/) > [You can get good science out of stupid questions. If someone says the world is flat, maybe in proving them wrong you can calculate…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gavin-schmidt/you-can-get-good-science-out-of-stupid-questions-if-someone-says-the/) [Gavin Schmidt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gavin-schmidt/) > [“what if we still thought the world was flat?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gy-williams/what-if-we-still-thought-the-world-was-flat/) Gy Williams > [No, most of our political elite has not realized that the world is flat.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-friedman/no-most-of-our-political-elite-has-not-realized-that-the-world-is-flat/) [Thomas Friedman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-friedman/) > [“I know the world is flat now, I'm not going back.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rainbow-rowell/i-know-the-world-is-flat-now-i-m-not-going-back/) [Rainbow Rowell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rainbow-rowell/) > [“Once upon a time really smart people were completely convinced the world was flat. Then they learned that it wasn’t. But they were still…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/once-upon-a-time-really-smart-people-were-completely-convinced-the/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Ten geographers who think the world is flat will tend to reinforce each other's errors ... Only a sailor can set them straight.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-ralston-saul/ten-geographers-who-think-the-world-is-flat-will-tend-to-reinforce/) [John Ralston Saul](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-ralston-saul/) > [“Wouldn’t it be nice if the world was flat? That way we could just push off the people we don’t like.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/wouldn-t-it-be-nice-if-the-world-was-flat-that-way-we-could-just-push/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Now, I am not saying that the world is flat, but it could be.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-flintoff/now-i-am-not-saying-that-the-world-is-flat-but-it-could-be/) [Andrew Flintoff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-flintoff/) ## More by Isak Dinesen > [The divine art is the story.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isak-dinesen/the-divine-art-is-the-story/) [Isak Dinesen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isak-dinesen/) > [Your own self, your personality and existence are reflected within the mind of each of the people whom you meet, ... into a likeness,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isak-dinesen/your-own-self-your-personality-and-existence-are-reflected-within-the/) [Isak Dinesen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isak-dinesen/) > [A great artist is never poor.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isak-dinesen/a-great-artist-is-never-poor/) [Isak Dinesen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isak-dinesen/) > [To be a person is to have a story to tell.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isak-dinesen/to-be-a-person-is-to-have-a-story-to-tell/) [Isak Dinesen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isak-dinesen/) > [One does not travel by plane. One is merely sent, like a parcel.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isak-dinesen/one-does-not-travel-by-plane-one-is-merely-sent-like-a-parcel/) [Isak Dinesen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isak-dinesen/) > [When we are young the idea of death or failure is intolerable to us; even the possibility of ridicule we cannot bear. But we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isak-dinesen/when-we-are-young-the-idea-of-death-or-failure-is-intolerable-to-us/) [Isak Dinesen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isak-dinesen/) > [Here and there, in some older houses, old faded daguerreotypes still hang on the walls... They seem to us to be very simple... compared…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isak-dinesen/here-and-there-in-some-older-houses-old-faded-daguerreotypes-still/) [Isak Dinesen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isak-dinesen/) > [“It is more than their land that you take away from the people, whose Native land you take. It is their past as well,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isak-dinesen/it-is-more-than-their-land-that-you-take-away-from-the-people-whose/) [Isak Dinesen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isak-dinesen/) > [There was a place in the Hills, on the first ridge in the Game Reserve, that I myself at the time when I thought…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isak-dinesen/there-was-a-place-in-the-hills-on-the-first-ridge-in-the-game-reserve/) [Isak Dinesen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isak-dinesen/) > [If I know a song of Africa, of the giraffe and the African new moon lying on her back, of the plows in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isak-dinesen/if-i-know-a-song-of-africa-of-the-giraffe-and-the-african-new-moon/) [Isak Dinesen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isak-dinesen/) > [People who dream when they sleep at night know of a special kind of happiness which the world of the day holds not, a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isak-dinesen/people-who-dream-when-they-sleep-at-night-know-of-a-special-kind-of/) [Isak Dinesen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isak-dinesen/) > [All sorrows can be borne if you can put them into a story.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isak-dinesen/all-sorrows-can-be-borne-if-you-can-put-them-into-a-story/) [Isak Dinesen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isak-dinesen/) > [the true art of the gods is the comic. The comic is a condescension of the divine to the world of man; it is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isak-dinesen/the-true-art-of-the-gods-is-the-comic-the-comic-is-a-condescension-of/) [Isak Dinesen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isak-dinesen/) > [When you have a great and difficult task, something perhaps almost impossible, if you only work a little at a time, every day a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isak-dinesen/when-you-have-a-great-and-difficult-task-something-perhaps-almost/) [Isak Dinesen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isak-dinesen/) > [I have read true piety defined as: loving one’s destiny unconditionally – and there is something in it. That is to say: I think…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isak-dinesen/i-have-read-true-piety-defined-as-loving-one-s-destiny/) [Isak Dinesen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isak-dinesen/) [Explore all 135 Isak Dinesen quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isak-dinesen/) ## 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": "“Dr Sass…maintained that in paradise, until the time of the fall, the whole world was flat, the back-curtain of the Lord, and that it was the devil who invented a third dimension. 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