--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: There is one question George is asked…" description: "\"“There is one question George is asked about life and art and which is more important, and George said art is more important because it is immortal. Th..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/16b/keith-haring-14071_aids_there-is-one-question-george-is-asked-ab_182996.jpg" --- # There is one question George is asked about life and art… ![“There is one question George is asked about life and art and which is more important, and George said art is more important because it is immortal. This struck a very deep note inside me. For I am quite aware of the chance that I have or will have AIDS. The odds are very great and, in fact, the…” quote by Keith Haring](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/16b/keith-haring-14071_aids_there-is-one-question-george-is-asked-ab_182996.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/16b/keith-haring-14071_aids_there-is-one-question-george-is-asked-ab_182996.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/16b/keith-haring-14071_aids_there-is-one-question-george-is-asked-ab_182996.jpg) > ““There is one question George is asked about life and art and which is more important, and George said art is more important because it is immortal. This struck a very deep note inside me. For I am quite aware of the chance that I have or will have AIDS. The odds are very great and, in fact, the symptoms already exist. My friends are dropping like flies and I know in my heart that it is only divine intervention that has kept me alive this long. I don’t know if I have five months or five years, but I know my days are numbered. This is why my activities and projects are so important now. To do as much as possible as quickly as possible. I’m sure that what will live on after I die is important enough to make sacrifices of my personal luxury and leisure time. Work is all I have and art is more important than life.”” [Keith Haring](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/keith-haring/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The speaker argues that art endures beyond life, especially when facing mortality, urging intense creative effort now that time is limited. **In simple terms:** Art lives forever, so make it count while you can. Key Takeaway Prioritize creative work over leisure when time is scarce. Themes mortality art legacy urgency purpose Mood determined somber Type inspirational existential When to use this quote - Terminal illness - artist’s legacy planning - intensive project execution Key Concepts Immortality through creation time scarcity personal sacrifice Questions to Reflect On - What does “art is more important than life” mean to you? - How can you balance urgency with wellbeing? A Different Perspective The focus on art may overlook other meaningful life aspects. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Aids](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/aids/) [Art](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/art/) [Art Important](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/art-important/) [Divine intervention](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/divine-intervention/) [Five years](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/five-years/) [George Asked](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/george-asked-1951355/) [Important Immortal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/important-immortal-1951354/) [Important life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/important-life/) [Keith-haring](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/keith-haring-100409/) [Leisure time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/leisure-time/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Life And Art](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life-and-art/) [Life Art](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life-art/) [Mortality](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mortality/) ## Related quotes > [“July 7, 1986: Montreux It is only now that I realize the importance of a biography. 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'pain'.. .I could never…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-rauschenberg/there-was-a-whole-language-that-i-could-never-make-function-for/) [Robert Rauschenberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-rauschenberg/) > [I don't like purely philosophical works. 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It…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/keith-haring/i-don-t-think-art-is-propaganda-it-should-be-something-that-liberates/) [Keith Haring](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/keith-haring/) > [I think as much as possible, an artist, if he has any kind of social or political concern, has to…expose as much as possible…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/keith-haring/i-think-as-much-as-possible-an-artist-if-he-has-any-kind-of-social-or/) [Keith Haring](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/keith-haring/) > [The public needs art, and it is the responsibility of a ’self-proclaimed artist’ to realize the public needs art, and not to make bourgeois…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/keith-haring/the-public-needs-art-and-it-is-the-responsibility-of-a-self/) [Keith Haring](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/keith-haring/) > [See, when I paint, it is an experience that, at its best, is transcending reality.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/keith-haring/see-when-i-paint-it-is-an-experience-that-at-its-best-is-transcending/) [Keith Haring](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/keith-haring/) > [If commercialization is putting my art on a shirt so that a kid who can't afford a $30,000 painting can buy one, then I'm…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/keith-haring/if-commercialization-is-putting-my-art-on-a-shirt-so-that-a-kid-who/) [Keith Haring](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/keith-haring/) > [The dripping... well, if it happens, it happens; it does not take anything from the work. The dripping just proves that you were not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/keith-haring/the-dripping-well-if-it-happens-it-happens-it-does-not-take-anything/) [Keith Haring](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/keith-haring/) > [The best reason to paint is that there is no reason to paint...](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/keith-haring/the-best-reason-to-paint-is-that-there-is-no-reason-to-paint/) [Keith Haring](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/keith-haring/) > [Children are the bearers of life in its simplest and most joyous form. Children are color-blind and still free of all the complications, greed,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/keith-haring/children-are-the-bearers-of-life-in-its-simplest-and-most-joyous-form/) [Keith Haring](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/keith-haring/) > [Nothing is important... so everything is important.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/keith-haring/nothing-is-important-so-everything-is-important/) [Keith Haring](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/keith-haring/) > [Drawing is still basically the same as it has been since prehistoric times. It brings together man and the world. It lives through magic.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/keith-haring/drawing-is-still-basically-the-same-as-it-has-been-since-prehistoric/) [Keith Haring](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/keith-haring/) > [There is nothing that makes me happier than making a child smile.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/keith-haring/there-is-nothing-that-makes-me-happier-than-making-a-child-smile/) [Keith Haring](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/keith-haring/) > [I didn't start doing graffiti until two years after I got to New York. Jean Michel Basquiat was one of my main inspirations for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/keith-haring/i-didn-t-start-doing-graffiti-until-two-years-after-i-got-to-new-york/) [Keith Haring](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/keith-haring/) > [“March 28, 1987: Today I read in the New York Times that all of the officers who killed Michael Stewart were again dismissed of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/keith-haring/march-28-1987-today-i-read-in-the-new-york-times-that-all-of-the/) [Keith Haring](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/keith-haring/) > [The act of creation is a kind of ritual. The origins of art and human existence lie hidden in this mystery of creation. 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This is why my activities and projects are so important now. To do as much as possible as quickly as possible. I’m sure that what will live on after I die is important enough to make sacrifices of my personal luxury and leisure time. 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