Art Quote by Joyce Carol Oates

There should always be something gratuitous about art, just as there seems to be, according to the new-wave cosmologists, something gratuitous about the universe.

— John Updike

“Some writers, even some poets, become famous public figures, but writers as such have no social status, in the way that doctors and lawyers,…

— W.H. Auden

In all great works of fiction, regardless of the grim reality they present, there is an affirmation of life against the transience of that…

— Azar Nafisi

The finest works of art are precious, among other reasons, because they make it possible for us to know, if only imperfectly and for…

— Aldous Huxley

“Every great work of art, I would declare pompously, is a celebration, an act of insubordination against the betrayals, horrors and infidelities of life.”

— Azar Nafisi

The word 'art' is very slippery. It really has no importance in relation to one's work. I work for the pleasure, for the pleasure…

— Manuel Alvarez Bravo

The greatness of art is not in the display of knowledge, or in material accuracy, but in the distinctness with which it conveys the…

— George Inness

A work of art is the unique result of a unique temperament. Its beauty comes from the fact that the author is what he…

— Oscar Wilde

Art is not so much talent as character… it's what you are, the qualities of the person.

— John Olsen

The entire vitality of art depends upon its being either full of truth, or full of use; and that, however pleasant, wonderful, or impressive…

— John Ruskin

Nothing has a more sinister effect on art than the artist's desire to prove that he's good. The terrible temptation of idealism!

— Philip Roth

Art is not in some far-off place. A work of Art is the expression of a man's whole personality, sensibility and ability

— Shinichi Suzuki