Art Quote by Jean-Luc Godard
““In a sense, fear is the daughter of God, redeemed on Good Friday. She is not beautiful, mocked, cursed or disowned by all. But don’t be mistaken, she watches over all mortal agony, she intercedes for mankind; for there is a rule and an exception. Culture is the rule, and art is the exception. Everybody speaks the rule; cigarette, computer, t-shirt, television, tourism, war. Nobody speaks the exception. It isn’t spoken, it is written; Flaubert, Dostoyevsky. It is composed; Gershwin, Mozart. It is painted; Cézanne, Vermeer. It is filmed; Antonioni, Vigo. Or it is lived, then it is the art of living; Srebrenica, Mostar, Sarajevo. The rule is to want the death of the exception. So the rule for cultural Europe is to organise the death of the art of living, which still flourishes.””
About This Quote
Source Film: Histoire(s) du cinéma, 1988
He argues culture follows rules, while art—exception—breaks them, and society often suppresses the latter.
In simple terms: Culture obeys rules; art defies them.
Key Takeaway
Protect artistic exception.
Themes
culture
art
conformity
rebellion
Mood
critical
philosophical
Type
cultural
artistic
When to use this quote
- media analysis
- art education
- political activism
Key Concepts
exception theory
cultural critique
Questions to Reflect On
- What defines the “exception” in today’s culture?
- How can we nurture art that resists conformity?
A Different Perspective
Art can be co‑opted by mainstream.
![“Queen or no queen, I have a royal destiny. […] no matter what I look like, where I live, or how much I have now, I am a princess. I am a daughter of the King of Kings! That’s true of every one of us who belong to God. We are daughters of the King, born ‘for such a time as this.’ From where we sit…” quote by Sarah Christmyer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/76a/sarah-christmyer-130310_child-of-god_queen-or-no-queen-i-have-a-royal-destiny_436021.jpg)
