--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Shakespeare said that art is a mirror…" description: "\"“Shakespeare said that art is a mirror held up to nature. And that’s what it is. The nature is your nature, and all of these wonderful poetic images of..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b3c/joseph-campbell-300_art_shakespeare-said-that-art-is-a-mirror-he_1491861.png" --- # Shakespeare said that art is a mirror held up to nature… ![“Shakespeare said that art is a mirror held up to nature. And that’s what it is. The nature is your nature, and all of these wonderful poetic images of mythology are referring to something in you. When your mind is trapped by the image out there so that you never make the reference to yourself, you…” quote by Joseph Campbell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b3c/joseph-campbell-300_art_shakespeare-said-that-art-is-a-mirror-he_1491861.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b3c/joseph-campbell-300_art_shakespeare-said-that-art-is-a-mirror-he_1491861.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b3c/joseph-campbell-300_art_shakespeare-said-that-art-is-a-mirror-he_1491861.png) > ““Shakespeare said that art is a mirror held up to nature. And that’s what it is. The nature is your nature, and all of these wonderful poetic images of mythology are referring to something in you. When your mind is trapped by the image out there so that you never make the reference to yourself, you have misread the image. The inner world is the world of your requirements and your energies and your structure and your possibilities that meets the outer world. And the outer world is the field of your incarnation. That’s where you are. You’ve got to keep both going. As Novalis said, 'The seat of the soul is there where the inner and outer worlds meet.”” [Joseph Campbell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-campbell/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Art mirrors both inner self and outer world; aligning them creates insight. **In simple terms:** Art reflects inner and outer worlds. Key Takeaway Seek harmony between inner and outer. Themes mythology self‑knowledge creativity Mood contemplative inspirational Type educational philosophical When to use this quote - creative writing - therapy - personal development Key Concepts psychology philosophy Questions to Reflect On - How do you integrate inner feelings with external symbols? - What myths resonate with your personal journey? A Different Perspective Focusing too much on external symbols can obscure personal truth. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Art](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/art/) [Inner world](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/inner-world/) [Mirror](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mirror/) [Nature](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nature/) [Outer worlds](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/outer-worlds/) [Spirituality](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/spirituality/) ## Related quotes > [The seat of the soul is where the inner world and the outer world meet.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-campbell/the-seat-of-the-soul-is-where-the-inner-world-and-the-outer-world-meet/) [Joseph Campbell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-campbell/) > [The inner world is the world of your requirements and your energies and your structure and your possibilities that meets the outer world. And…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-campbell/the-inner-world-is-the-world-of-your-requirements-and-your-energies/) [Joseph Campbell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-campbell/) > [Shakespeare said that art is a mirror held up to nature. And that’s what it is. The nature is your nature, and all of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-campbell/shakespeare-said-that-art-is-a-mirror-held-up-to-nature-and-that-s-2/) [Joseph Campbell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-campbell/) > [“The inner world is the world of your requirements and your energies and your structure and your possibilities that meets the outer world. And…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-cambell/the-inner-world-is-the-world-of-your-requirements-and-your-energies-2/) Joseph Cambell > [The seat of the soul is where the inner world and the outer world meet. Where they overlap, it is in every point of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/novalis/the-seat-of-the-soul-is-where-the-inner-world-and-the-outer-world/) [Novalis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/novalis/) > [“Art is not a mirror held up to society but a hammer with which to shape it.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bertolt-brecht/art-is-not-a-mirror-held-up-to-society-but-a-hammer-with-which-to/) [Bertolt Brecht](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bertolt-brecht/) > [Art is not a mirror held up to reality but a hammer with which to shape it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bertolt-brecht/art-is-not-a-mirror-held-up-to-reality-but-a-hammer-with-which-to/) [Bertolt Brecht](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bertolt-brecht/) > [“I stood before a mirror and said fearfully: “I want to see how I look in the mirror with my eyes closed.” These wrods…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-miller/i-stood-before-a-mirror-and-said-fearfully-i-want-to-see-how-i-look/) [Henry Miller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-miller/) > [True love brings up everything - you're allowing a mirror to be held up to you daily.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jennifer-aniston/true-love-brings-up-everything-you-re-allowing-a-mirror-to-be-held-up/) [Jennifer Aniston](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jennifer-aniston/) > [Art is not a mirror but a hammer.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-grierson/art-is-not-a-mirror-but-a-hammer/) [John Grierson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-grierson/) > [Every piece of art is a mirror and serves the function of reflectivity to expose to you and reveal to you more of who…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/darryl-anka/every-piece-of-art-is-a-mirror-and-serves-the-function-of/) [Darryl Anka](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/darryl-anka/) > [Your outer world is a reflection of your inner world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/t-harv-eker/your-outer-world-is-a-reflection-of-your-inner-world/) [T. Harv Eker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/t-harv-eker/) > [Enthusiasm Rules his inner world. Determination Rules his outer world. Therefore Happiness has become His real name.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sri-chinmoy/enthusiasm-rules-his-inner-world-determination-rules-his-outer-world/) [Sri Chinmoy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sri-chinmoy/) > [I define Inner Space as an imaginary realm in which on the one hand the outer world of reality, and on the other the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-g-ballard/i-define-inner-space-as-an-imaginary-realm-in-which-on-the-one-hand/) [J. G. Ballard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-g-ballard/) > [Half of humanity has been accepting the inner world but denying the outer world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rajneesh/half-of-humanity-has-been-accepting-the-inner-world-but-denying-the/) [Rajneesh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rajneesh/) ## More by Joseph Campbell > [If a person does not listen to the demands of their own spiritual and heart life and insists on a certain program, you're going…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-campbell/if-a-person-does-not-listen-to-the-demands-of-their-own-spiritual-and/) [Joseph Campbell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-campbell/) > [The last act in the biography of the hero is that of the death or departure.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-campbell/the-last-act-in-the-biography-of-the-hero-is-that-of-the-death-or/) [Joseph Campbell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-campbell/) > [The privilege of a lifetime is being who you are.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-campbell/the-privilege-of-a-lifetime-is-being-who-you-are/) [Joseph Campbell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-campbell/) > [The eternal principle, which never was born, never will die: it is in all things: it is in you now. You are the wave…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-campbell/the-eternal-principle-which-never-was-born-never-will-die-it-is-in/) [Joseph Campbell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-campbell/) > [How do you find the divine power in yourself? The word enthusiasm means 'filled with a god,' so what makes you enthusiastic? Follow it.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-campbell/how-do-you-find-the-divine-power-in-yourself-the-word-enthusiasm/) [Joseph Campbell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-campbell/) > [What we're learning in our schools is not the wisdom of life. We're learning technologies, we're getting information. There's a curious reluctance on the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-campbell/what-we-re-learning-in-our-schools-is-not-the-wisdom-of-life-we-re/) [Joseph Campbell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-campbell/) > [ The fall \[of your soul\] from perfection into duality...was naturally followed by the discovery of the duality of good and evil...This is the Biblical… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-campbell/the-fall-of-your-soul-from-perfection-into-duality-was-naturally/) [Joseph Campbell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-campbell/) > [So that's what destiny is: simply the fulfillment of the potentialites of the energies in your own system.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-campbell/so-that-s-what-destiny-is-simply-the-fulfillment-of-the-potentialites/) [Joseph Campbell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-campbell/) > [Your ego is your embodiment and your self is your potentiality and that's what you listen to when you listen for the voice of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-campbell/your-ego-is-your-embodiment-and-your-self-is-your-potentiality-and/) [Joseph Campbell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-campbell/) > [When you follow your bliss a kind of track opens up, that's always been there, waiting for you. And the life that you should…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-campbell/when-you-follow-your-bliss-a-kind-of-track-opens-up-that-s-always/) [Joseph Campbell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-campbell/) > [The best we can do is lean towards the light.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-campbell/the-best-we-can-do-is-lean-towards-the-light/) [Joseph Campbell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-campbell/) > [I think of mythology as the homeland of the muses, the inspirers of art, the inspirers of poetry. To see life as a poem…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-campbell/i-think-of-mythology-as-the-homeland-of-the-muses-the-inspirers-of/) [Joseph Campbell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-campbell/) > [When you are falling --- Dive!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-campbell/when-you-are-falling-dive/) [Joseph Campbell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-campbell/) > [We're all seeking...the rapture of being alive.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-campbell/we-re-all-seeking-the-rapture-of-being-alive/) [Joseph Campbell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-campbell/) > [Both the artist and the lover know that perfection is not loveable. It is the clumsiness of a fault that makes a person lovable.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-campbell/both-the-artist-and-the-lover-know-that-perfection-is-not-loveable-it/) [Joseph Campbell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-campbell/) [Explore all 711 Joseph Campbell quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-campbell/) ## 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": "“Shakespeare said that art is a mirror held up to nature. 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