--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: It would be a lowly art that allowed…" description: "\"It would be a lowly art that allowed itself to be understood all at once.\" — Johann Wolfgang von Goethe" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d6c/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe-36_art_it-would-be-a-lowly-art-that-allowed-its_1170158.jpg" --- # It would be a lowly art that allowed itself to be… ![“It would be a lowly art that allowed itself to be understood all at once.” quote by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d6c/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe-36_art_it-would-be-a-lowly-art-that-allowed-its_1170158.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d6c/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe-36_art_it-would-be-a-lowly-art-that-allowed-its_1170158.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d6c/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe-36_art_it-would-be-a-lowly-art-that-allowed-its_1170158.jpg) > “It would be a lowly art that allowed itself to be understood all at once.” [Johann Wolfgang von Goethe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Art that is instantly graspable lacks depth; true art reveals layers over time. **In simple terms:** Instantly understood art is shallow. Key Takeaway Seek depth in art. Themes art understanding complexity Mood contemplative analytical Type philosophical literary When to use this quote - museum visits - literary analysis - creative writing Key Concepts aesthetic theory interpretation epistemology Questions to Reflect On - Why do we sometimes prefer immediate clarity? - When is simplicity appropriate? A Different Perspective Simplicity can be powerful too. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Art](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/art/) [Artist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/artist/) [Lowly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/lowly/) ## Related quotes > [Even if it's such a lowly art as TV, you've got to get stuff off your chest, because that's what makes something different and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ricky-gervais/even-if-it-s-such-a-lowly-art-as-tv-you-ve-got-to-get-stuff-off-your/) [Ricky Gervais](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ricky-gervais/) > [“Historically, women have either been excluded from the process of creating the definitions of what is considered art or allowed to participate only if…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/judy-chicago/historically-women-have-either-been-excluded-from-the-process-of/) [Judy Chicago](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/judy-chicago/) > [Art can heal it if art is allowed to exist. And if art is slowly wiped off the face of the planet, then what…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/madonna-ciccone/art-can-heal-it-if-art-is-allowed-to-exist-and-if-art-is-slowly-wiped/) [Madonna Ciccone](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/madonna-ciccone/) > [Twentieth-century art has allowed me to see things in a cryptic way. I love the butterfly's wings, which disappear when folded and when open…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emmet-gowin/twentieth-century-art-has-allowed-me-to-see-things-in-a-cryptic-way-i/) [Emmet Gowin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emmet-gowin/) > [“He wanted, in short, a work of art both for what it was in itself and for what it allowed him to bestow on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joris-karl-huysmans/he-wanted-in-short-a-work-of-art-both-for-what-it-was-in-itself-and/) [Joris-Karl Huysmans](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joris-karl-huysmans/) > [Though I have looked everywhere / I can find nothing lowly / in the universe.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/a-r-ammons/though-i-have-looked-everywhere-i-can-find-nothing-lowly-in-the/) [A. R. Ammons](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/a-r-ammons/) > [Ideally, content should be shared, mixed, mashed, and reposted - it wants to flow through the Internet like water. This was the point of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-battelle/ideally-content-should-be-shared-mixed-mashed-and-reposted-it-wants/) [John Battelle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-battelle/) > [“Thus God's work and His eyes are in the depths, but man's only in the height.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-luther/thus-god-s-work-and-his-eyes-are-in-the-depths-but-man-s-only-in-the/) [Martin Luther](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-luther/) > [“Most sane human beings who have managed to attain and retain fame each uses it to dramatically increase their name’s chances of being remembered…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mokokoma-mokhonoana/most-sane-human-beings-who-have-managed-to-attain-and-retain-fame/) [Mokokoma Mokhonoana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mokokoma-mokhonoana/) > [no job, no matter how lowly, is truly 'unskilled.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-ehrenreich/no-job-no-matter-how-lowly-is-truly-unskilled/) [Barbara Ehrenreich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-ehrenreich/) > [If someone thinks I'm posh, it just shows how lowly they are. Some people think I went to Eton. I'm far too stupid to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sebastian-horsley/if-someone-thinks-i-m-posh-it-just-shows-how-lowly-they-are-some/) [Sebastian Horsley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sebastian-horsley/) > [No man made great by death offers more hope to lowly pride than does Abraham Lincoln; for while living he was himself so simple…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/no-man-made-great-by-death-offers-more-hope-to-lowly-pride-than-does/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Back in the 1980s, when I was a lowly editorial assistant by day and trying to be a novelist by night, no god reigned…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-hanff-korelitz/back-in-the-1980s-when-i-was-a-lowly-editorial-assistant-by-day-and/) [Jean Hanff Korelitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-hanff-korelitz/) > [You, God, made yourself lowly and small to make us great!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/st-catherine-of-siena/you-god-made-yourself-lowly-and-small-to-make-us-great/) [St. Catherine of Siena](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/st-catherine-of-siena/) > [“The lowly have small ambitions, and are satisfied with small indulgences. They need not get fair treatment. They need only think that they do... ”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joe-abercrombie/the-lowly-have-small-ambitions-and-are-satisfied-with-small/) [Joe Abercrombie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joe-abercrombie/) ## More by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe > [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 never believed in trying to do anything. Whatever I set out to do I found I had already accomplished.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/i-never-believed-in-trying-to-do-anything-whatever-i-set-out-to-do-i/) [Johann Wolfgang von Goethe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/) > [All lyrical work must, as a whole, be perfectly intelligible, but in some particulars a little unintelligible.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/all-lyrical-work-must-as-a-whole-be-perfectly-intelligible-but-in/) [Johann Wolfgang von Goethe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/) > [We know accurately only when we know little, with knowledge doubt increases.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/we-know-accurately-only-when-we-know-little-with-knowledge-doubt/) [Johann Wolfgang von Goethe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/) > [It is easier to perceive error than to find truth, for the former lies on the surface and is easily seen, while the latter…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/it-is-easier-to-perceive-error-than-to-find-truth-for-the-former-lies/) [Johann Wolfgang von Goethe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/) > [There is no patriotic art and no patriotic science.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/there-is-no-patriotic-art-and-no-patriotic-science/) [Johann Wolfgang von Goethe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/) > [The connoisseur of art must be able to appreciate what is simply beautiful, but the common run of people is satisfied with ornament](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/the-connoisseur-of-art-must-be-able-to-appreciate-what-is-simply/) [Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/) > [Nothing is worse than active ignorance.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/nothing-is-worse-than-active-ignorance/) [Johann Wolfgang von Goethe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/) > [Let us not dream that reason can ever be popular. Passions, emotions, may be made popular; but reason remains ever the property of an…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/let-us-not-dream-that-reason-can-ever-be-popular-passions-emotions/) [Johann Wolfgang von Goethe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/) > [Our foibles are really what make us lovable.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/our-foibles-are-really-what-make-us-lovable/) [Johann Wolfgang von Goethe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/) > [Instruction does much, but encouragement everything.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/instruction-does-much-but-encouragement-everything/) [Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/) > [Giving is the business of the rich.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/giving-is-the-business-of-the-rich/) [Johann Wolfgang von Goethe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/) > [Just begin and the mind grows heated; continue, and the task will be completed!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/just-begin-and-the-mind-grows-heated-continue-and-the-task-will-be/) [Johann Wolfgang von Goethe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/) > [I look upon all four Gospels as thoroughly genuine, for there shines forth from them the reflected splendor of a sublimity proceeding from Jesus…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/i-look-upon-all-four-gospels-as-thoroughly-genuine-for-there-shines/) [Johann Wolfgang von Goethe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/) > [Whatever we may say against collections, which present authors in a disjointed form, they nevertheless bring about many excellent results. We are not always…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/whatever-we-may-say-against-collections-which-present-authors-in-a/) [Johann Wolfgang von Goethe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/) [Explore all 2,052 Johann Wolfgang von Goethe quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/) ## 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 would be a lowly art that allowed itself to be understood all at once.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Johann Wolfgang von Goethe" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/it-would-be-a-lowly-art-that-allowed-itself-to-be-understood-all-at/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Art" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/it-would-be-a-lowly-art-that-allowed-itself-to-be-understood-all-at/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d6c/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe-36_art_it-would-be-a-lowly-art-that-allowed-its_1170158.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d6c/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe-36_art_it-would-be-a-lowly-art-that-allowed-its_1170158.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d6c/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe-36_art_it-would-be-a-lowly-art-that-allowed-its_1170158.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“It would be a lowly art that allowed itself to be understood all at once.” — Johann Wolfgang von Goethe", "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": "Johann Wolfgang von Goethe", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "It would be a lowly art...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/it-would-be-a-lowly-art-that-allowed-itself-to-be-understood-all-at/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/it-would-be-a-lowly-art-that-allowed-itself-to-be-understood-all-at/#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 } } ] } ```