--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Everything that is good in the arts is…" description: "\"Everything that is good in the arts is done by some sort of diversion.\" — John Roecker" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7c8/john-roecker-43934_art_everything-that-is-good-in-the-arts-is-d_2991509.jpg" --- # Everything that is good in the arts is done by some sort… ![“Everything that is good in the arts is done by some sort of diversion.” quote by John Roecker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7c8/john-roecker-43934_art_everything-that-is-good-in-the-arts-is-d_2991509.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7c8/john-roecker-43934_art_everything-that-is-good-in-the-arts-is-d_2991509.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7c8/john-roecker-43934_art_everything-that-is-good-in-the-arts-is-d_2991509.jpg) > “Everything that is good in the arts is done by some sort of diversion.” [John Roecker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-roecker/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Art’s goodness arises from diversion, implying creative work serves as distraction. **In simple terms:** Good art is a form of diversion. Key Takeaway Value art as purposeful distraction. Themes art creativity purpose Mood thoughtful analytical Type philosophical creative When to use this quote - cultural critique - creative process - entertainment Key Concepts diversion theory artistic value Questions to Reflect On - Why is diversion essential to art? - What other purposes does art serve? A Different Perspective May undervalue art’s deeper meanings. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Art](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/art/) [Artist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/artist/) [Arts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/arts/) [Diversion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/diversion/) ## Related quotes > [For me, the arts has always been sort of my saving grace.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/black-thought/for-me-the-arts-has-always-been-sort-of-my-saving-grace/) [Black Thought](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/black-thought/) > [Margaret Thatcher was very good for the arts in so far as it gave people a real focus for something to be against.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-parr/margaret-thatcher-was-very-good-for-the-arts-in-so-far-as-it-gave/) [Martin Parr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-parr/) > [Although all the good arts serve to draw man's mind away from vices and lead it toward better things, this function can be more…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicolaus-copernicus/although-all-the-good-arts-serve-to-draw-man-s-mind-away-from-vices/) [Nicolaus Copernicus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicolaus-copernicus/) > [ “I couldn't have written \[What Good Are The Arts?\] because I--and I'm not alone, by any means--do not have Carey's breadth of reading, nor… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nick-hornby/i-couldn-t-have-written-what-good-are-the-arts-because-i-and-i-m-not/) [Nick Hornby](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nick-hornby/) > [The War is the first and only thing in the world today. The arts generally are not, nor is this writing a diversion from…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-carlos-williams/the-war-is-the-first-and-only-thing-in-the-world-today-the-arts/) [William Carlos Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-carlos-williams/) > [One great function of the arts is to keep ideals alive in a culture that does not yet realize them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-neiman/one-great-function-of-the-arts-is-to-keep-ideals-alive-in-a-culture/) [Susan Neiman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-neiman/) > [The life of the arts is far from an interruption, a distraction, in the life of a nation, is close to the center of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-f-kennedy/the-life-of-the-arts-is-far-from-an-interruption-a-distraction-in-the/) [John F. Kennedy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-f-kennedy/) > [“Soon enough, we are all going to leave this earth for good. 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Originally, all I wanted to do was to be an underground cartoonist…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-moore/in-many-ways-my-entire-graphic-novel-career-was-a-long-diversion/) [Alan Moore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-moore/) > [“Diversion consoles us - in trivial ways - in the face of our miseries or perplexities; yet, paradoxically, it becomes the worst of our…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douglas-groothuis/diversion-consoles-us-in-trivial-ways-in-the-face-of-our-miseries-or/) [Douglas Groothuis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douglas-groothuis/) > [People of the same trade seldom meet together, even for merriment and diversion, but the conversation ends in a conspiracy against the public, or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adam-smith/people-of-the-same-trade-seldom-meet-together-even-for-merriment-and/) [Adam Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adam-smith/) ## More by John Roecker > [Roecker sure is a romantic about certain things, like art and music, though you might not know it from watching Live Freaky! Die Freaky!,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-roecker/roecker-sure-is-a-romantic-about-certain-things-like-art-and-music/) [John Roecker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-roecker/) > [Any movie about cult figure Charles Manson needs lots of sex, drugs and blood. But as John Roecker discovered while filming his first feature…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-roecker/any-movie-about-cult-figure-charles-manson-needs-lots-of-sex-drugs/) [John Roecker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-roecker/) > [Manson's the man who's responsible for "killing the Sixties." He really knew how to play up the whole "most dangerous man alive" thing when…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-roecker/manson-s-the-man-who-s-responsible-for-killing-the-sixties-he-really/) [John Roecker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-roecker/) > [Writer-director John Roecker's debut, Live Freaky! Die Freaky! will have you convulsing on the floor ... with nausea, laughter, or both.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-roecker/writer-director-john-roecker-s-debut-live-freaky-die-freaky-will-have/) [John Roecker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-roecker/) > [I wanted to push the envelope, and I wanted to go so far as to actually offend both the liberals and the right. I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-roecker/i-wanted-to-push-the-envelope-and-i-wanted-to-go-so-far-as-to/) [John Roecker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-roecker/) > [ It is hard to explain to people now how hard it was being a punk back then \[the 1970s\]. If you had short hair,… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-roecker/it-is-hard-to-explain-to-people-now-how-hard-it-was-being-a-punk-back/) [John Roecker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-roecker/) > [I wanted to look at how people deal with death. Why is Henry Kissinger not in jail and Charles Manson is?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-roecker/i-wanted-to-look-at-how-people-deal-with-death-why-is-henry-kissinger/) [John Roecker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-roecker/) > [Live Freaky! Die Freaky! will be, without a shadow of a doubt, the single greatest film of all time about Charles Manson being the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-roecker/live-freaky-die-freaky-will-be-without-a-shadow-of-a-doubt-the-single/) [John Roecker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-roecker/) [Explore all 9 John Roecker quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-roecker/) ## 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. 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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": "Everything that is good in the arts is done by some sort of diversion.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "John Roecker" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-roecker/everything-that-is-good-in-the-arts-is-done-by-some-sort-of-diversion/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Art" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-roecker/everything-that-is-good-in-the-arts-is-done-by-some-sort-of-diversion/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7c8/john-roecker-43934_art_everything-that-is-good-in-the-arts-is-d_2991509.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7c8/john-roecker-43934_art_everything-that-is-good-in-the-arts-is-d_2991509.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7c8/john-roecker-43934_art_everything-that-is-good-in-the-arts-is-d_2991509.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Everything that is good in the arts is done by some sort of diversion.” — John Roecker", "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 Roecker", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-roecker/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Everything that is good in the...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-roecker/everything-that-is-good-in-the-arts-is-done-by-some-sort-of-diversion/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-roecker/everything-that-is-good-in-the-arts-is-done-by-some-sort-of-diversion/#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 } } ] } ```