--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: If all meanings could be adequately…" description: "\"If all meanings could be adequately expressed by words, the arts of painting and music would not exist.\" — John Dewey" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/188/john-dewey-545_art_if-all-meanings-could-be-adequately-expr_2997747.png" --- # If all meanings could be adequately expressed by words… ![“If all meanings could be adequately expressed by words, the arts of painting and music would not exist.” quote by John Dewey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/188/john-dewey-545_art_if-all-meanings-could-be-adequately-expr_2997747.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/188/john-dewey-545_art_if-all-meanings-could-be-adequately-expr_2997747.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/188/john-dewey-545_art_if-all-meanings-could-be-adequately-expr_2997747.png) > “If all meanings could be adequately expressed by words, the arts of painting and music would not exist.” [John Dewey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dewey/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. If words could fully express meaning, visual and musical arts would be unnecessary. **In simple terms:** Art exists because language is insufficient. Key Takeaway Value non‑verbal expression. Themes art language expression Mood inspired thoughtful Type philosophical reflective When to use this quote - education - therapy - creative workshops Key Concepts aesthetics communication theory Questions to Reflect On - How do arts complement language? - What emotions resist verbal description? A Different Perspective May undervalue language’s power. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Art](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/art/) [Artist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/artist/) [Arts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/arts/) [Gathering data](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/gathering-data/) [Inspirational](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/inspirational/) [Love](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/love/) [Music](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/music/) [Painting](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/painting/) [Words](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/words/) ## Related quotes > [“The arts (painting, poetry, etc.) are not just these. Eating, drinking, walking are also arts; every act is an art.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-sar-vallejo/the-arts-painting-poetry-etc-are-not-just-these-eating-drinking/) [César Vallejo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-sar-vallejo/) > [Nothing takes root in mind when there is no balance between doing and receiving.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dewey/nothing-takes-root-in-mind-when-there-is-no-balance-between-doing-and/) [John Dewey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dewey/) > [Ah, to build, to build! That is the noblest art of all the arts. Painting and sculpture are but images, Are merely shadows cast…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-wadsworth-longfellow/ah-to-build-to-build-that-is-the-noblest-art-of-all-the-arts-painting/) [Henry Wadsworth Longfellow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-wadsworth-longfellow/) > [Coming out of college with a degree in fine arts and painting isn't worth much any more.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dan-fogelberg/coming-out-of-college-with-a-degree-in-fine-arts-and-painting-isn-t/) [Dan Fogelberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dan-fogelberg/) > [For me myself, I feel it's always interesting gathering data. I have my team who do that. I think they feed me through specific…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-anderson/for-me-myself-i-feel-it-s-always-interesting-gathering-data-i-have-my/) [Kevin Anderson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-anderson/) > [The dynamic interplay of neural activity within and in between systems is the very essence of brain function.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-restak/the-dynamic-interplay-of-neural-activity-within-and-in-between/) [Richard Restak](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-restak/) > [Nilekani's technocratic obsession with gathering data is consistent with that of Bill Gates, as though lack of information is what is causing world hunger.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arundhati-roy/nilekani-s-technocratic-obsession-with-gathering-data-is-consistent/) [Arundhati Roy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arundhati-roy/) > [Motion is the context of living. We find meaning my and in our doing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-kegan/motion-is-the-context-of-living-we-find-meaning-my-and-in-our-doing/) [Robert Kegan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-kegan/) > [One might equate growing up with a mistrust of words. A mature person trusts his eyes more than his ears. Irrationality often manifests itself…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-hoffer/one-might-equate-growing-up-with-a-mistrust-of-words-a-mature-person/) [Eric Hoffer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-hoffer/) > [I'm worried about privacy - the companies out there gathering data on us, the stuff we do on Twitter, the publicly scrapeable stuff on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-arrington/i-m-worried-about-privacy-the-companies-out-there-gathering-data-on/) [Michael Arrington](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-arrington/) > [Personal participation is the universal principle of knowing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-polanyi/personal-participation-is-the-universal-principle-of-knowing/) [Michael Polanyi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-polanyi/) > [I've seen people spend days, if not months, researching and gathering data, but only at the end did they finally figure out what they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-pozen/i-ve-seen-people-spend-days-if-not-months-researching-and-gathering/) [Robert Pozen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-pozen/) > [“Big Data: by itself doesn't yield insights...information doesn't serve us...without knowing why…unless something transformative is brought to these data sets (to create) understanding Gathering…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/beau-lotto/big-data-by-itself-doesn-t-yield-insights-information-doesn-t-serve/) [Beau Lotto](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/beau-lotto/) > [Sometimes you feel some artists are doing the same thing that you're doing but in a different field. But they have the same approach.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/missy-mazzoli/sometimes-you-feel-some-artists-are-doing-the-same-thing-that-you-re/) [Missy Mazzoli](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/missy-mazzoli/) > […the research on the brain does not validate that we are singularly processing input or learning with a single sensory input.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-jensen/the-research-on-the-brain-does-not-validate-that-we-are-singularly/) [Eric Jensen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-jensen/) ## More by John Dewey > [“The deepest urge in human nature is the desire to be important.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dewey/the-deepest-urge-in-human-nature-is-the-desire-to-be-important/) [John Dewey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dewey/) > [“Empirically, things are poignant, tragic, beautiful, humorous, settled, disturbed, comfortable, annoying, barren, harsh, consoling, splendid, fearful; are such immediately and in their own right…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dewey/empirically-things-are-poignant-tragic-beautiful-humorous-settled/) [John Dewey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dewey/) > [A good aim surveys the present state of experience of pupils, and forming a tentative plan of treatment, keeps the plan constantly in view…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dewey/a-good-aim-surveys-the-present-state-of-experience-of-pupils-and/) [John Dewey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dewey/) > [Experiences in order to be educative must lead out into an expanding world of subject matter, a subject matter of facts or information and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dewey/experiences-in-order-to-be-educative-must-lead-out-into-an-expanding/) [John Dewey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dewey/) > [A tribe, let us say, is warlike. 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The notion that some subjects and methods and that acquaintance with certain facts…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dewey/there-is-no-such-thing-as-educational-value-in-the-abstract-the/) [John Dewey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dewey/) > [Men live in a community in virtue of the things which they have in common; and communication is the way in which they come…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dewey/men-live-in-a-community-in-virtue-of-the-things-which-they-have-in/) [John Dewey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dewey/) > [We can have facts without thinking but we cannot have thinking without facts.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dewey/we-can-have-facts-without-thinking-but-we-cannot-have-thinking/) [John Dewey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dewey/) > [But progress in knowledge has made us aware of the superficiality of Plato's lumping of individuals and their original powers into a few sharply…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dewey/but-progress-in-knowledge-has-made-us-aware-of-the-superficiality-of/) [John Dewey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dewey/) > [Even the alleged benefits of war, so far as more than alleged, spring from the fact that conflict of peoples at least enforces intercourse…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dewey/even-the-alleged-benefits-of-war-so-far-as-more-than-alleged-spring/) [John Dewey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dewey/) > [“When the organization called soul is free, moving and operative, initial as well as terminal, it is spirit. Qualities are both static, substantial, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dewey/when-the-organization-called-soul-is-free-moving-and-operative/) [John Dewey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dewey/) > [Since in reality there is nothing to which growth is relative save more growth, there is nothing to which education is subordinate save more…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dewey/since-in-reality-there-is-nothing-to-which-growth-is-relative-save/) [John Dewey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dewey/) > [Creative thinking will improve as we relate the new fact to the old and all facts to each other.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dewey/creative-thinking-will-improve-as-we-relate-the-new-fact-to-the-old/) [John Dewey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dewey/) [Explore all 486 John Dewey quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dewey/) ## 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": "If all meanings could be adequately expressed by words, the arts of painting and music would not exist.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "John Dewey" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dewey/if-all-meanings-could-be-adequately-expressed-by-words-the-arts-of/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Art" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dewey/if-all-meanings-could-be-adequately-expressed-by-words-the-arts-of/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/188/john-dewey-545_art_if-all-meanings-could-be-adequately-expr_2997747.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/188/john-dewey-545_art_if-all-meanings-could-be-adequately-expr_2997747.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/188/john-dewey-545_art_if-all-meanings-could-be-adequately-expr_2997747.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“If all meanings could be adequately expressed by words, the arts of painting and music would not exist.” — John Dewey", "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": "John Dewey", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dewey/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "If all meanings could be adequately...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dewey/if-all-meanings-could-be-adequately-expressed-by-words-the-arts-of/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dewey/if-all-meanings-could-be-adequately-expressed-by-words-the-arts-of/#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 } } ] } ```