--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Is there such a thing as public good?…" description: "\"“Is there such a thing as public good? That's all I'm asking. I mean, is your good the same as my good? I doubt that seriously. So, if we do not agree ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/22f/jim-carroll-15270_artist_is-there-such-a-thing-as-public-good-tha_2080945.png" --- # Is there such a thing as public good? That's all I'm… ![“Is there such a thing as public good? That's all I'm asking. I mean, is your good the same as my good? I doubt that seriously. So, if we do not agree on a common sense of good, then how can there be any larger public good? What about some homeless person who sleeps on a heat grating down the…” quote by Jim Carroll](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/22f/jim-carroll-15270_artist_is-there-such-a-thing-as-public-good-tha_2080945.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/22f/jim-carroll-15270_artist_is-there-such-a-thing-as-public-good-tha_2080945.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/22f/jim-carroll-15270_artist_is-there-such-a-thing-as-public-good-tha_2080945.png) > ““Is there such a thing as public good? That's all I'm asking. I mean, is your good the same as my good? I doubt that seriously. So, if we do not agree on a common sense of good, then how can there be any larger public good? What about some homeless person who sleeps on a heat grating down the street from that sculpture? Does he feel the public good when he stares up at this excessive interplay of metallic shapes? More likely he interprets this art through the way its form and function are relevant to his life, making this piece fairly useless. Such a lost soul's aesthetic viewpoint is overriden by the terms of his subsistence. Maybe he feels frustrated and hopeless that a behemoth made almost entirely of metal contains no surfaces large enough that he could use as shelter from rain or snow. Seeing the abstract metaphors, analogies, and conclusions that they invoke, or just laughing at the artist's pretense or the corrupt visions, which are particularly rife as this century comes to an end, requires taking your bank account for granted. That's a fine luxury for those with places to sleep and clothes that are clean.”” [Jim Carroll](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-carroll/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Public good is contested; differing needs and perspectives can render shared projects meaningless to some. **In simple terms:** People see public good differently. Key Takeaway Consider diverse needs in communal decisions. Themes public good inequality art perception Mood critical empathetic Type philosophical inquisitive When to use this quote - city planning - public art installations - homeless services - community meetings Key Concepts social philosophy urban design Questions to Reflect On - How can public spaces serve both aesthetics and shelter? - What responsibilities do artists have to marginalized groups? A Different Perspective Balancing artistic expression with basic human needs is complex. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Artist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/artist/) [Bank account](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bank-account/) [Public good](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/public-good/) ## Related quotes > [“Love? What is it? The most natural painkiller what there is.” You may become curious, though, about what happened to that painkiller should depression…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-ligotti/love-what-is-it-the-most-natural-painkiller-what-there-is-you-may/) [Thomas Ligotti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-ligotti/) > [I am very shy. It's the most stressful thing to be in the public eye.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sanam-saeed/i-am-very-shy-it-s-the-most-stressful-thing-to-be-in-the-public-eye/) [Sanam Saeed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sanam-saeed/) > [“Their priority has been not to clamp down on the thing to which the public are objecting but, rather, to the objecting public. If…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douglas-murray/their-priority-has-been-not-to-clamp-down-on-the-thing-to-which-the/) [Douglas Murray](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douglas-murray/) > [What manner of thing this 'public opinion' is, should be best known to those who have its name forever in their mouths and erect…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-wagner/what-manner-of-thing-this-public-opinion-is-should-be-best-known-to/) [Richard Wagner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-wagner/) > [I owe one thing to my public - the best performance I can give.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johnny-carson/i-owe-one-thing-to-my-public-the-best-performance-i-can-give/) [Johnny Carson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johnny-carson/) > [It's a special thing to be a public company.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-duffield/it-s-a-special-thing-to-be-a-public-company/) [David Duffield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-duffield/) > [Try and spread a lot of love and affection around the world. The most important thing is not to 'con' the public. Be real.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rolf-harris/try-and-spread-a-lot-of-love-and-affection-around-the-world-the-most/) [Rolf Harris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rolf-harris/) > [The public does not like you to mislead or represent yourself to be something you're not. And the other thing that the public really…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ann-richards/the-public-does-not-like-you-to-mislead-or-represent-yourself-to-be/) [Ann Richards](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ann-richards/) > [The only thing that the artist cannot see is the obvious. The only thing that the public can see is the obvious.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oscar-wilde/the-only-thing-that-the-artist-cannot-see-is-the-obvious-the-only/) [Oscar Wilde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oscar-wilde/) > [There is no such thing as public opinion. There is only published opinion.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/winston-churchill/there-is-no-such-thing-as-public-opinion-there-is-only-published/) [Winston Churchill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/winston-churchill/) > [“The public is largely influenced by the look of a book. So are we all. It is the only artistic thing about the public.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oscar-wilde/the-public-is-largely-influenced-by-the-look-of-a-book-so-are-we-all/) [Oscar Wilde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oscar-wilde/) > [I don't think anyone can say I have said one thing in public and done another in private.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-blunkett/i-don-t-think-anyone-can-say-i-have-said-one-thing-in-public-and-done/) [David Blunkett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-blunkett/) > [How can there ever possibly be a conflict between my private interests and the public good?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ashleigh-brilliant/how-can-there-ever-possibly-be-a-conflict-between-my-private/) [Ashleigh Brilliant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ashleigh-brilliant/) > [The foundations of justice are that on one shall suffer wrong; then, that the public good be promoted.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcus-tullius-cicero/the-foundations-of-justice-are-that-on-one-shall-suffer-wrong-then/) [Marcus Tullius Cicero](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcus-tullius-cicero/) > [“The public good must come before private interests.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bryant-mcgill/the-public-good-must-come-before-private-interests/) [Bryant McGill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bryant-mcgill/) ## More by Jim Carroll > [“they're fucking up minds they do not own.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-carroll/they-re-fucking-up-minds-they-do-not-own/) [jim carroll](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-carroll/) > [Conscience is no more than the dead speaking to us.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-carroll/conscience-is-no-more-than-the-dead-speaking-to-us/) [Jim Carroll](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-carroll/) > [I love kids that come to shows, little kids coming up to you with braces; like, some kid came up to me in a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-carroll/i-love-kids-that-come-to-shows-little-kids-coming-up-to-you-with/) [Jim Carroll](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-carroll/) > [I need a consistency of my moods if there is to be any consistency in my style. 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I'm trying…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-carroll/it-s-easy-to-get-by-on-a-facade-of-fancy-style-but-sooner-or-later/) [Jim Carroll](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-carroll/) > [I once said a poet has the right to sing as loudly and vocally as he wants to. Most poets should face a rock…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-carroll/i-once-said-a-poet-has-the-right-to-sing-as-loudly-and-vocally-as-he/) [Jim Carroll](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-carroll/) > [Billy was fascinated by the television. At its most basic level, it occupied his time and shut out the demons of isolation. 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And when you're successful when you're young, it leads to an arrested adolescence or something, y'know.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-carroll/i-was-always-the-young-guy-and-when-you-re-successful-when-you-re/) [Jim Carroll](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-carroll/) [Explore all 43 Jim Carroll quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-carroll/) ## More Artist quotes > [One is a painter because one wants so-called freedom; one doesn't want to go to the office every morning.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-duchamp/one-is-a-painter-because-one-wants-so-called-freedom-one-doesn-t-want/) [Marcel Duchamp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcel-duchamp/) > [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/) > [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/) > [“People in coats and ties were milling around the Talley gallery, and on the wall were the minimally rendered still lifes by Giorgio Morandi,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-martin/people-in-coats-and-ties-were-milling-around-the-talley-gallery-and/) [Steve Martin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-martin/) > [The prophet who fails to present a bearable alternative and yet preaches doom is part of the trap that he postulates. Not only does…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-mead/the-prophet-who-fails-to-present-a-bearable-alternative-and-yet/) [Margaret Mead](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-mead/) > [“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 > [From as long as I can remember, I was always fond of drawing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/st-lucia/from-as-long-as-i-can-remember-i-was-always-fond-of-drawing/) [St. Lucia](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/st-lucia/) > [I think a business guy is different from an artist. They walk different paths. Artists create the best outputs when they're having fun. 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I can't fix a car, sew, knit, cook, etc. Statistically, there is more I don't do than do.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carrie-brownstein/i-am-a-horrible-visual-artist-i-can-t-fix-a-car-sew-knit-cook-etc/) [Carrie Brownstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carrie-brownstein/) [Browse all 32,600 Artist quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/artist/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Is there such a thing as public good? That's all I'm asking. I mean, is your good the same as my good? I doubt that seriously. So, if we do not agree on a common sense of good, then how can there be any larger public good? What about some homeless person who sleeps on a heat grating down the street from that sculpture? Does he feel the public good when he stares up at this excessive interplay of metallic shapes? More likely he interprets this art through the way its form and function are relevant to his life, making this piece fairly useless. Such a lost soul's aesthetic viewpoint is overriden by the terms of his subsistence. Maybe he feels frustrated and hopeless that a behemoth made almost entirely of metal contains no surfaces large enough that he could use as shelter from rain or snow. Seeing the abstract metaphors, analogies, and conclusions that they invoke, or just laughing at the artist's pretense or the corrupt visions, which are particularly rife as this century comes to an end, requires taking your bank account for granted. 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