--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: It would be possible, in theory, for life…" description: "\"It would be possible, in theory, for life and art to be reversed.\" — Jonathan Safran Foer" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/46d/jonathan-safran-foer-136_art_it-would-be-possible-in-theory-for-life_1630782.png" --- # It would be possible, in theory, for life and art to be… ![“It would be possible, in theory, for life and art to be reversed.” quote by Jonathan Safran Foer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/46d/jonathan-safran-foer-136_art_it-would-be-possible-in-theory-for-life_1630782.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/46d/jonathan-safran-foer-136_art_it-would-be-possible-in-theory-for-life_1630782.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/46d/jonathan-safran-foer-136_art_it-would-be-possible-in-theory-for-life_1630782.png) > “It would be possible, in theory, for life and art to be reversed.” [Jonathan Safran Foer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-safran-foer/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The idea suggests that life and art could exchange roles, with art becoming lived experience and life becoming a crafted narrative. **In simple terms:** Life and art could swap roles. Key Takeaway Consider how art shapes daily life. Themes art life philosophy Mood inquisitive thoughtful Type conceptual inspirational When to use this quote - creative writing - visual arts - personal storytelling - daily rituals Key Concepts existentialism creative practice Questions to Reflect On - How does art influence your everyday decisions? - Can life be treated as a narrative? A Different Perspective Reversing roles may blur boundaries, causing confusion. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Art](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/art/) [Artist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/artist/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Life And Art](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life-and-art/) [Reversed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/reversed/) ## Related quotes > [Nothing in physics seems so hopeful to as the idea that it is possible for a theory to have a high degree of symmetry…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-weinberg/nothing-in-physics-seems-so-hopeful-to-as-the-idea-that-it-is/) [Steven Weinberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-weinberg/) > [Life and art had a nice parallel, in the sense of coming together as strangers who are separate in prison who need to work…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/keanu-reeves/life-and-art-had-a-nice-parallel-in-the-sense-of-coming-together-as/) [Keanu Reeves](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/keanu-reeves/) > [I would never live in anything I design. Life and art are different. My life is very precious to me - my art is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-eisenman/i-would-never-live-in-anything-i-design-life-and-art-are-different-my/) [Peter Eisenman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-eisenman/) > [I have always felt a connection between daily life and art...my reality has been my key.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mirella-freni/i-have-always-felt-a-connection-between-daily-life-and-art-my-reality/) [Mirella Freni](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mirella-freni/) > [Life and art are inseparable.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/genesis-p-orridge/life-and-art-are-inseparable/) [Genesis P-Orridge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/genesis-p-orridge/) > [I want work that, possessing as thin a membrane as possible between life and art, foregrounds the question of how the writer solves being…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-shields/i-want-work-that-possessing-as-thin-a-membrane-as-possible-between/) [David Shields](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-shields/) > [“That's the difference between life and art, of course. Life has no frames, no curtains, no beginnings and no endings.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/orson-scott-card/that-s-the-difference-between-life-and-art-of-course-life-has-no/) [Orson Scott Card](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/orson-scott-card/) > [Illusion and wisdom combined are the charm of life and art.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-joubert/illusion-and-wisdom-combined-are-the-charm-of-life-and-art/) [Joseph Joubert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-joubert/) > [Even as a teenager we got interested in the Beats, Dada, and Surrealism, and so on. What drew us to those was that their…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/genesis-p-orridge/even-as-a-teenager-we-got-interested-in-the-beats-dada-and-surrealism/) [Genesis P-Orridge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/genesis-p-orridge/) > [“Life and Art, once entwined, can quickly become inseparable”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-bayles-art-and-fear-observations-on-the-perils-and-rewards-of-artmaking/life-and-art-once-entwined-can-quickly-become-inseparable/) David Bayles Art and Fear Observations on the Perils and Rewards of Artmaking > [In our life there is a single color, as on an artist's palette, which provides the meaning of life and art. It is the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marc-chagall/in-our-life-there-is-a-single-color-as-on-an-artist-s-palette-which/) [Marc Chagall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marc-chagall/) > [Life and art are not two different things…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/felix-mendelssohn/life-and-art-are-not-two-different-things/) [Felix Mendelssohn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/felix-mendelssohn/) > [Female artists are the perfect example of a creator: They know how to make life and art with their bodies. Life comes from their…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brandon-boyd/female-artists-are-the-perfect-example-of-a-creator-they-know-how-to/) [Brandon Boyd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brandon-boyd/) > [In life and art, there are distinctions to be made between what an act of cruelty consists of.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maggie-nelson/in-life-and-art-there-are-distinctions-to-be-made-between-what-an-act/) [Maggie Nelson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maggie-nelson/) > [“There is one question George is asked about life and art and which is more important, and George said art is more important because…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/keith-haring/there-is-one-question-george-is-asked-about-life-and-art-and-which-is/) [Keith Haring](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/keith-haring/) ## More by Jonathan Safran Foer > [This brings me back to the image of Kafka standing before a fish in the Berlin aquarium, a fish on which his gaze fell…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-safran-foer/this-brings-me-back-to-the-image-of-kafka-standing-before-a-fish-in/) [Jonathan Safran Foer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-safran-foer/) > [I try not to remember the life that I didn’t want to lose but lost and have to remember](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-safran-foer/i-try-not-to-remember-the-life-that-i-didn-t-want-to-lose-but-lost/) [Jonathan Safran Foer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-safran-foer/) > [“I have an aristocratic smile and like to punch people.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-safran-foer/i-have-an-aristocratic-smile-and-like-to-punch-people/) [Jonathan Safran Foer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-safran-foer/) > [He removed several pages of death certificates, which were picked up by another breeze and sent into the trees. Some would fall with the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-safran-foer/he-removed-several-pages-of-death-certificates-which-were-picked-up/) [Jonathan Safran Foer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-safran-foer/) > [I would have done anything for him. Maybe that was my sickness. We made love in nothing places and turned the lights off. It…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-safran-foer/i-would-have-done-anything-for-him-maybe-that-was-my-sickness-we-made/) [Jonathan Safran Foer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-safran-foer/) > [“One day I wandered away from her and hid. I liked the way it felt to have someone look for me, to hear my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-safran-foer/one-day-i-wandered-away-from-her-and-hid-i-liked-the-way-it-felt-to/) [Jonathan Safran Foer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-safran-foer/) > [If nothing matters, there's nothing to save.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-safran-foer/if-nothing-matters-there-s-nothing-to-save/) [Jonathan Safran Foer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-safran-foer/) > [“It was one of the best days of my life, a day during which I lived my life and didn't think about it at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-safran-foer/it-was-one-of-the-best-days-of-my-life-a-day-during-which-i-lived-my/) [Jonathan Safran Foer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-safran-foer/) > [“The appearance was misleading- human dreams; rubbish heaps abundant yet ephemeral sudden and splendid, only to wilt and perish”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-safran-foer/the-appearance-was-misleading-human-dreams-rubbish-heaps-abundant-yet/) [Jonathan Safran Foer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-safran-foer/) > [“the entirety of human society and moral progress represents an explicit transcendence of what’s “natural.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-safran-foer/the-entirety-of-human-society-and-moral-progress-represents-an/) [Jonathan Safran Foer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-safran-foer/) > [“Food is not so much a symbol of freedom as the first requirement of freedom. We eat foods that are native to America on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-safran-foer/food-is-not-so-much-a-symbol-of-freedom-as-the-first-requirement-of/) [Jonathan Safran Foer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-safran-foer/) > [“Rationally, factory farming is so obviously wrong, in so many ways. In all of my reading and conversations, I’ve yet to find a credible…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-safran-foer/rationally-factory-farming-is-so-obviously-wrong-in-so-many-ways-in/) [Jonathan Safran Foer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-safran-foer/) > [Just because you're an atheist, that doesn't mean you wouldn't love for things to have reasons for why they are.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-safran-foer/just-because-you-re-an-atheist-that-doesn-t-mean-you-wouldn-t-love/) [Jonathan Safran Foer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-safran-foer/) > [Do you think I'm wonderful? she asked him one day as they leaned against the trunk of a petrified maple. No, he said. Why?…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-safran-foer/do-you-think-i-m-wonderful-she-asked-him-one-day-as-they-leaned/) [Jonathan Safran Foer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-safran-foer/) > [My insides don't match up with my outsides. -Do anyone's inside and outsides match up? -I don't know. I'm only me. -Maybe that's what…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-safran-foer/my-insides-don-t-match-up-with-my-outsides-do-anyone-s-inside-and/) [Jonathan Safran Foer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-safran-foer/) [Explore all 1,117 Jonathan Safran Foer quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-safran-foer/) ## 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 possible, in theory, for life and art to be reversed.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Jonathan Safran Foer" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-safran-foer/it-would-be-possible-in-theory-for-life-and-art-to-be-reversed/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Art" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-safran-foer/it-would-be-possible-in-theory-for-life-and-art-to-be-reversed/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/46d/jonathan-safran-foer-136_art_it-would-be-possible-in-theory-for-life_1630782.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/46d/jonathan-safran-foer-136_art_it-would-be-possible-in-theory-for-life_1630782.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/46d/jonathan-safran-foer-136_art_it-would-be-possible-in-theory-for-life_1630782.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“It would be possible, in theory, for life and art to be reversed.” — Jonathan Safran Foer", "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": "Jonathan Safran Foer", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-safran-foer/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "It would be possible, in theory,...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-safran-foer/it-would-be-possible-in-theory-for-life-and-art-to-be-reversed/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-safran-foer/it-would-be-possible-in-theory-for-life-and-art-to-be-reversed/#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 } } ] } ```