---
title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: It's all romanticism, nonsense…"
description: "\"It's all romanticism, nonsense, rottenness, art.\" — Ivan Turgenev"
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/53d/ivan-turgenev-2671_art_it-s-all-romanticism-nonsense-rottenness_1655335.jpg"
---

#  It's all romanticism, nonsense, rottenness, art.

![“It's all romanticism, nonsense, rottenness, art.” quote by Ivan Turgenev](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/53d/ivan-turgenev-2671_art_it-s-all-romanticism-nonsense-rottenness_1655335.jpg)   [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/53d/ivan-turgenev-2671_art_it-s-all-romanticism-nonsense-rottenness_1655335.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/53d/ivan-turgenev-2671_art_it-s-all-romanticism-nonsense-rottenness_1655335.jpg)

> “It's all romanticism, nonsense, rottenness, art.”

[Ivan Turgenev](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ivan-turgenev/)

## About This Quote

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

Romanticism, nonsense, decay, and art intertwine, reflecting life's chaotic beauty.

**In simple terms:** Life mixes romance, nonsense, decay, and art.

Key Takeaway

Embrace life's contradictions.

Themes

art romanticism decay nonsense

Mood

thoughtful poetic

Type

literary philosophical

When to use this quote

- creative writing
- art criticism
- philosophical discourse

Key Concepts

existentialism aesthetic theory cultural critique

Questions to Reflect On

- What contradictions inspire you?
- How do you find beauty in decay?

A Different Perspective

Romanticism may idealize suffering.

★ ★ ★ ★ ★   No ratings yet

[Art](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/art/) [Artist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/artist/) [Nonsense](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nonsense/) [Romanticism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/romanticism/)

## Related quotes

> [The North American intellectual tradition began, I maintain, in the encounter of British Romanticism with assertive, pragmatic North American English - the Protestant plain…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/camille-paglia/the-north-american-intellectual-tradition-began-i-maintain-in-the/)

[Camille Paglia](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/camille-paglia/)

> [Sternly, remorselessly, fate guides each of us; only at the beginning, when we're absorbed in details, in all sorts of nonsense, in ourselves, are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ivan-turgenev/sternly-remorselessly-fate-guides-each-of-us-only-at-the-beginning/)

[Ivan Turgenev](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ivan-turgenev/)

> [Art has a double visage: it looks before and after. Romance is its forward-looking face. The germ of growth is in romanticism. Formalism, on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-edward-woodberry/art-has-a-double-visage-it-looks-before-and-after-romance-is-its/)

[George Edward Woodberry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-edward-woodberry/)

> [I don't know where my romanticism comes from. My mom and dad would read to me a lot. 'Treasure Island,' 'Robinson Crusoe,' tales of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-radcliffe/i-don-t-know-where-my-romanticism-comes-from-my-mom-and-dad-would/)

[Daniel Radcliffe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniel-radcliffe/)

> [The temptation is to stay inside; to subside into the kind of recluse whom neighborhood children regard with derision and little awe; to let…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-atwood/the-temptation-is-to-stay-inside-to-subside-into-the-kind-of-recluse/)

[Margaret Atwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-atwood/)

> ['The Impossible Dream' is, in my opinion, one of the greatest songs ever written. Here is a man, an old man, a very old…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-lee/the-impossible-dream-is-in-my-opinion-one-of-the-greatest-songs-ever/)

[Christopher Lee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-lee/)

> [“Art is a concretization of metaphysics. Art brings man’s concepts to the perceptual level of his consciousness and allows him to grasp them directly,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ayn-rand-the-romatic-manifesto/art-is-a-concretization-of-metaphysics-art-brings-man-s-concepts-to/)

Ayn Rand, The Romatic Manifesto

> [“Boyishness—by which I mean animal life in its fullest measure, good nature and honest impulses, hatred of injustice and meanness, and thoughtlessness enough to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-hughes/boyishness-by-which-i-mean-animal-life-in-its-fullest-measure-good/)

[Thomas Hughes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-hughes/)

> [After Pope, in the beginning of Romanticism, people developed the idea that imagination rather than reason was a special form of knowledge and its…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-hass/after-pope-in-the-beginning-of-romanticism-people-developed-the-idea/)

[Robert Hass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-hass/)

> [“That which elevates the Christian to an essential superiority over the non-Christian is therefore not a higher level of morality as such. The decisive…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leo-baeck/that-which-elevates-the-christian-to-an-essential-superiority-over/)

[Leo Baeck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leo-baeck/)

> [Every sound in the gym is so fantastic. The screams of the fans, the whistle of the ref, the teammates calling to each other,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yao-ming/every-sound-in-the-gym-is-so-fantastic-the-screams-of-the-fans-the/)

[Yao Ming](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yao-ming/)

> [“Romanticism is the expression of man’s urge to rise above reason and common sense, just as rationalism is the expression of his urge to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-yost/romanticism-is-the-expression-of-man-s-urge-to-rise-above-reason-and/)

Charles Yost

> [“On a cloudy night, when nothing seems above, still, there is love. Always love. For something, from someone. It's never done. Never.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/deepak-rana/on-a-cloudy-night-when-nothing-seems-above-still-there-is-love-always/)

[Deepak Rana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/deepak-rana/)

> [I never went to high school reunions. My thing is, out of sight, out of mind. That's my attitude toward life. So I don't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-lennon/i-never-went-to-high-school-reunions-my-thing-is-out-of-sight-out-of/)

[John Lennon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-lennon/)

> [Louisville is a place with no labels. It’s not the South, it’s not Chicago, and you don’t think of it as you think of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-james/louisville-is-a-place-with-no-labels-it-s-not-the-south-it-s-not/)

[Jim James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-james/)

## More by Ivan Turgenev

> [What a magnificent body, how I should like to see it on the dissecting table.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ivan-turgenev/what-a-magnificent-body-how-i-should-like-to-see-it-on-the-dissecting/)

[Ivan Turgenev](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ivan-turgenev/)

> [“I think; here I lie under a haystack… The tiny space I occupy is so infinitely small in comparison with the rest of space,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ivan-turgenev/i-think-here-i-lie-under-a-haystack-the-tiny-space-i-occupy-is-so/)

[Ivan Turgenev](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ivan-turgenev/)

> [That is what poetry can do. It speaks to us of what does not exist, which is not only better than what exists, but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ivan-turgenev/that-is-what-poetry-can-do-it-speaks-to-us-of-what-does-not-exist/)

[Ivan Turgenev](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ivan-turgenev/)

> [So long as one's just dreaming about what to do, one can soar like an eagle and move mountains, it seems, but as soon…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ivan-turgenev/so-long-as-one-s-just-dreaming-about-what-to-do-one-can-soar-like-an/)

[Ivan Turgenev](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ivan-turgenev/)

> [Most people can't understand how others can blow their noses differently than they do.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ivan-turgenev/most-people-can-t-understand-how-others-can-blow-their-noses/)

[Ivan Turgenev](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ivan-turgenev/)

> [The past was a dream wasn't it? And who ever remembers dreams?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ivan-turgenev/the-past-was-a-dream-wasn-t-it-and-who-ever-remembers-dreams/)

[Ivan Turgenev](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ivan-turgenev/)

> [“But I think that I have already been moving too long in a sphere which is not my own. Flying fishes can hold out…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ivan-turgenev/but-i-think-that-i-have-already-been-moving-too-long-in-a-sphere/)

[Ivan Turgenev](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ivan-turgenev/)

> [“There was nothing ugly in the small, unprepossessing figure of this emancipated woman, but the expression on her face made a bad impression on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ivan-turgenev/there-was-nothing-ugly-in-the-small-unprepossessing-figure-of-this/)

[Ivan Turgenev](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ivan-turgenev/)

> [“In his funeral oration the spokesman of the most artistic and critical of European nations, Ernest Renan, hailed him as one of the greatest…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ivan-turgenev/in-his-funeral-oration-the-spokesman-of-the-most-artistic-and/)

[Ivan Turgenev](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ivan-turgenev/)

> [Love isn't actually a feeling at all--it's an illness, a certain condition of body and soul… Usually it takes possession of someone without his…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ivan-turgenev/love-isn-t-actually-a-feeling-at-all-it-s-an-illness-a-certain/)

[Ivan Turgenev](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ivan-turgenev/)

> [There's something tragic in the fate of almost every person--it's just that the tragic is often concealed from a person by the banal surface…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ivan-turgenev/there-s-something-tragic-in-the-fate-of-almost-every-person-it-s-just/)

[Ivan Turgenev](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ivan-turgenev/)

> [“But I had absolutely lost all sense of personal dignity, and could not tear myself away from the spectacle of my own misery.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ivan-turgenev/but-i-had-absolutely-lost-all-sense-of-personal-dignity-and-could-not/)

[Ivan Turgenev](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ivan-turgenev/)

> [“My son,' he wrote to me, 'fear the love of woman; fear that bliss, that poison…”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ivan-turgenev/my-son-he-wrote-to-me-fear-the-love-of-woman-fear-that-bliss-that/)

[Ivan Turgenev](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ivan-turgenev/)

> [Great God, grant that twice two be not four.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ivan-turgenev/great-god-grant-that-twice-two-be-not-four/)

[Ivan Turgenev](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ivan-turgenev/)

> [What's terrible is that there's nothing terrible, that the very essence of life is petty, uninteresting, and degradingly trite.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ivan-turgenev/what-s-terrible-is-that-there-s-nothing-terrible-that-the-very/)

[Ivan Turgenev](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ivan-turgenev/)

[Explore all 146 Ivan Turgenev quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ivan-turgenev/)

## 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": "It's all romanticism, nonsense, rottenness, art.",
            "creator": {
                "@type": "Person",
                "name": "Ivan Turgenev"
            },
            "isPartOf": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website"
            },
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ivan-turgenev/it-s-all-romanticism-nonsense-rottenness-art/",
            "about": {
                "@type": "Thing",
                "name": "Art"
            },
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ivan-turgenev/it-s-all-romanticism-nonsense-rottenness-art/#quotation",
            "image": {
                "@type": "ImageObject",
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/53d/ivan-turgenev-2671_art_it-s-all-romanticism-nonsense-rottenness_1655335.jpg",
                "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/53d/ivan-turgenev-2671_art_it-s-all-romanticism-nonsense-rottenness_1655335.jpg",
                "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/53d/ivan-turgenev-2671_art_it-s-all-romanticism-nonsense-rottenness_1655335.jpg",
                "width": 1080,
                "height": 1080,
                "caption": "“It's all romanticism, nonsense, rottenness, art.” — Ivan Turgenev",
                "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": "Ivan Turgenev",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ivan-turgenev/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 4,
                    "name": "It's all romanticism, nonsense, rottenness, art.",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ivan-turgenev/it-s-all-romanticism-nonsense-rottenness-art/"
                }
            ],
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ivan-turgenev/it-s-all-romanticism-nonsense-rottenness-art/#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
            }
        }
    ]
}
```
