--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The division between the useful arts and…" description: "\"The division between the useful arts and the fine arts must not be understood in too absolute a manner. In the humblest work of the craftsmen, if art i..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8a1/jacques-maritain-8918_absolutes_the-division-between-the-useful-arts-and_1874434.jpg" --- # The division between the useful arts and the fine arts… ![“The division between the useful arts and the fine arts must not be understood in too absolute a manner. In the humblest work of the craftsmen, if art is there, there is a concern for beauty, through a kind of indirect repercussion that the requirements of the creativity of the spirit exercise upon…” quote by Jacques Maritain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8a1/jacques-maritain-8918_absolutes_the-division-between-the-useful-arts-and_1874434.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8a1/jacques-maritain-8918_absolutes_the-division-between-the-useful-arts-and_1874434.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8a1/jacques-maritain-8918_absolutes_the-division-between-the-useful-arts-and_1874434.jpg) > “The division between the useful arts and the fine arts must not be understood in too absolute a manner. In the humblest work of the craftsmen, if art is there, there is a concern for beauty, through a kind of indirect repercussion that the requirements of the creativity of the spirit exercise upon the production of an object to serve human needs.” [Jacques Maritain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacques-maritain/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Artistic creation, whether functional or decorative, inherently involves a pursuit of beauty, linking practical needs with spiritual creativity. **In simple terms:** Beauty appears even in practical work. Key Takeaway Recognize beauty in everyday objects. Themes art beauty functionality spirituality Mood reflective inspirational Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - product design - architecture - craftsmanship - industrial design Key Concepts aesthetic theory humanism Questions to Reflect On - How does functionality influence aesthetic choices? - Can utility and beauty coexist without compromise? A Different Perspective Practical constraints may limit artistic expression. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Absolutes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/absolutes/) [Art](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/art/) [Art Concern](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/art-concern-726156/) [Art is](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/art-is/) [Artist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/artist/) [Arts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/arts/) [Arts Understood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/arts-understood-2607528/) [Beauty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/beauty/) [Concern](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/concern/) [Crafts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/crafts/) [Craftsman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/craftsman/) [Creativity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/creativity/) [Division](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/division/) [Exercise](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/exercise/) [Fine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fine/) [Fine arts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fine-arts/) [Fitness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fitness/) [Human needs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/human-needs/) [Humans](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/humans/) [Ifs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ifs/) [Indirect](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/indirect/) [Kind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/kind/) [Needs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/needs/) [Objects](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/objects/) [Productions](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/productions/) [Repercussions](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/repercussions/) [Requirements](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/requirements/) [Spirit](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/spirit/) [Understood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/understood/) [Useful Arts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/useful-arts-626089/) ## Related quotes > [“We have the liberal arts and we have the useful arts.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-joyce/we-have-the-liberal-arts-and-we-have-the-useful-arts/) [James Joyce](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-joyce/) > [Art’s only concern with the real is to abolish it, and to substitute for it a new reality](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-rousset/art-s-only-concern-with-the-real-is-to-abolish-it-and-to-substitute/) [Jean Rousset](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-rousset/) > [In all the useful arts the world is either standing still or going backwards.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/in-all-the-useful-arts-the-world-is-either-standing-still-or-going/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [In its most limited sense, modern, art would seem to concern itself only with the technical innovations of the period.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-hopper/in-its-most-limited-sense-modern-art-would-seem-to-concern-itself/) [Edward Hopper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-hopper/) > [ As I said, this \[repercussions\] may take different forms : direct and indirect. Direct when people want to retaliate, or governments. Indirect when you're… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bashar-al-assad/as-i-said-this-repercussions-may-take-different-forms-direct-and/) [Bashar al-Assad](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bashar-al-assad/) > [You'd better make sure that you know you can make a difference, and if it's a difference you want to make, is there another…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-calipari/you-d-better-make-sure-that-you-know-you-can-make-a-difference-and-if/) [John Calipari](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-calipari/) > [As a teenager, I wanted to be sophisticated and avant-garde, and I was really judgmental. But when you're a teenager, you're fearless because you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gia-coppola/as-a-teenager-i-wanted-to-be-sophisticated-and-avant-garde-and-i-was/) [Gia Coppola](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gia-coppola/) > [Redefining marriage will have huge implications for what is taught in our schools, and for wider society. It will redefine society since the institution…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/keith-o-brien/redefining-marriage-will-have-huge-implications-for-what-is-taught-in/) [Keith O'Brien](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/keith-o-brien/) > [If you ever face a significant disaster, do your best to keep up the spirits of those around you, act flexibly and creatively to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sheri-fink/if-you-ever-face-a-significant-disaster-do-your-best-to-keep-up-the/) [Sheri Fink](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sheri-fink/) > [We're talking about one region, bigger regions, not only about Syria. This interlinked region, this intermingled, interlocked, whatever you want to call it ;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bashar-al-assad/we-re-talking-about-one-region-bigger-regions-not-only-about-syria/) [Bashar al-Assad](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bashar-al-assad/) > [I'm sure there were times when I wish I had thought, 'Gosh, that might really embarrass mom and dad,' but our parents didn't raise…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jenna-bush/i-m-sure-there-were-times-when-i-wish-i-had-thought-gosh-that-might/) [Jenna Bush](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jenna-bush/) > [It sucks for me, because now I have to not be as crazy as I am on the Internet. Which totally sucks, because it's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/diplo/it-sucks-for-me-because-now-i-have-to-not-be-as-crazy-as-i-am-on-the/) [Diplo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/diplo/) > [The deciphering of ancient scripts changed forever the way Europeans were able to imagine the story of humanity, destroying centuries of received authority about…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-macgregor/the-deciphering-of-ancient-scripts-changed-forever-the-way-europeans/) [Neil MacGregor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-macgregor/) > [Today, any action anywhere on earth has an immediate repercussion on all five continents. News of a victory of the Eastern armies in Morocco…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nikos-kazantzakis/today-any-action-anywhere-on-earth-has-an-immediate-repercussion-on/) [Nikos Kazantzakis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nikos-kazantzakis/) > [Azerbaijan unleashed the war, and was defeated in that war; Azerbaijan asked for truce (including from the Commander of Karabakh's forces) and later started…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/serzh-sargsyan/azerbaijan-unleashed-the-war-and-was-defeated-in-that-war-azerbaijan/) [Serzh Sargsyan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/serzh-sargsyan/) ## More by Jacques Maritain > [It has never been recommended to confuse "loving" with "seeking to please"... ...Salome pleased Herod's guests; I can hardly believe she was burning with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacques-maritain/it-has-never-been-recommended-to-confuse-loving-with-seeking-to/) [Jacques Maritain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacques-maritain/) > [A great philosopher in the wrong is like a beacon on the reefs which says to seamen: steer clear of me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacques-maritain/a-great-philosopher-in-the-wrong-is-like-a-beacon-on-the-reefs-which/) [Jacques Maritain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacques-maritain/) > [I don't see America as a mainland, but as a sea, a big ocean. 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Because poetry emanates from the free creativity of the spirit,it is from the very start…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacques-maritain/poetic-experience-is-distinct-in-nature-from-mystical-experience/) [Jacques Maritain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacques-maritain/) > [We do not need a truth to serve us, we need a truth that we can serve](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacques-maritain/we-do-not-need-a-truth-to-serve-us-we-need-a-truth-that-we-can-serve/) [Jacques Maritain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacques-maritain/) [Explore all 76 Jacques Maritain quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacques-maritain/) ## More Absolutes quotes > [At the centre of the human heart is the longing for an absolute good, a longing which is always there and is never appeased…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simone-weil/at-the-centre-of-the-human-heart-is-the-longing-for-an-absolute-good/) [Simone Weil](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simone-weil/) > [There is no perfect justice, just as there is no absolute in ethics. But there is perfect injustice, and we know it when we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-dershowitz/there-is-no-perfect-justice-just-as-there-is-no-absolute-in-ethics/) [Alan Dershowitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-dershowitz/) > [If you live in a material universe where acquiring things is very important to you, then family is an absolute deterrent to maintaining that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-taylor-gatto/if-you-live-in-a-material-universe-where-acquiring-things-is-very/) [John Taylor Gatto](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-taylor-gatto/) > [ Their \[the U.S.’s\] defense budget in absolute figures is almost 25 times bigger than Russia’s. This is what in defense is referred to as… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vladimir-putin/their-the-u-s-s-defense-budget-in-absolute-figures-is-almost-25-times/) [Vladimir Putin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vladimir-putin/) > [This separation was absolute in our original Republic. 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I believe the love of God is absolute. He said he gave his son for the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/billy-graham/those-are-decisions-only-the-lord-will-make-i-believe-the-love-of-god/) [Billy Graham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/billy-graham/) > [“The Gods know what it is to be eternal, and they love to toy with mortals who use absolutes.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/josephine-angelini/the-gods-know-what-it-is-to-be-eternal-and-they-love-to-toy-with/) [Josephine Angelini](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/josephine-angelini/) > [Anarchy is the stepping stone to absolute power.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/napoleon-bonaparte/anarchy-is-the-stepping-stone-to-absolute-power/) [Napoleon Bonaparte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/napoleon-bonaparte/) > [I was asked the other day if I would be interested in the Nobel Prize, but I think that for me it would be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gabriel-garc-a-m-rquez/i-was-asked-the-other-day-if-i-would-be-interested-in-the-nobel-prize/) [Gabriel Garcia Marquez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gabriel-garc-a-m-rquez/) > [The only "definitive truth" for Buddhism is the absolute negation of any one truth as the Definitive Truth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dalai-lama/the-only-definitive-truth-for-buddhism-is-the-absolute-negation-of/) [Dalai Lama](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dalai-lama/) > [The nature of the Absolute is neither perceptible nor imperceptible; and with phenomena it is just the same. 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