--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Energy is eternal delight; and from the…" description: "\"Energy is eternal delight; and from the earliest times human beings have tried to imprison it in some durable hieroglyphic. It is perhaps the first of ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/afd/kenneth-clark-9681_art_energy-is-eternal-delight-and-from-the-e_379240.png" --- # Energy is eternal delight; and from the earliest times… ![“Energy is eternal delight; and from the earliest times human beings have tried to imprison it in some durable hieroglyphic. It is perhaps the first of all the subjects of art.” quote by Kenneth Clark](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/afd/kenneth-clark-9681_art_energy-is-eternal-delight-and-from-the-e_379240.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/afd/kenneth-clark-9681_art_energy-is-eternal-delight-and-from-the-e_379240.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/afd/kenneth-clark-9681_art_energy-is-eternal-delight-and-from-the-e_379240.png) > “Energy is eternal delight; and from the earliest times human beings have tried to imprison it in some durable hieroglyphic. It is perhaps the first of all the subjects of art.” [Kenneth Clark](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kenneth-clark/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Art attempts to capture and preserve the fleeting essence of energy, reflecting humanity’s enduring fascination with power. **In simple terms:** Art tries to trap energy. Key Takeaway Explore how art represents energy. Themes art energy history human curiosity Mood reflective analytical Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - museum curation - art education - creative inspiration - public installations Key Concepts aesthetics symbolism cultural heritage Questions to Reflect On - How does art convey intangible concepts? - What limits exist in representing energy visually? A Different Perspective Energy cannot be fully contained; interpretations differ. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Art](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/art/) [Delight](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/delight/) [Durable Hieroglyphic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/durable-hieroglyphic-3443515/) [Energy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/energy/) [Energy Eternal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/energy-eternal-3443513/) [Eternal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/eternal/) [Firsts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/firsts/) [Hieroglyphic Subjects](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hieroglyphic-subjects-3443514/) [Hieroglyphics](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hieroglyphics/) [Human beings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/human-beings/) [Humans](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/humans/) [Subjects](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/subjects/) [Subjects Art](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/subjects-art-3443516/) [Time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time/) ## Related quotes > [Energy is an eternal delight.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-blake/energy-is-an-eternal-delight/) [William Blake](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-blake/) > [Energy is eternal delight.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-blake/energy-is-eternal-delight/) [William Blake](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-blake/) > [Energy is an eternal delight, and he who desires, but acts not, breeds pestilence.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-blake/energy-is-an-eternal-delight-and-he-who-desires-but-acts-not-breeds/) [William Blake](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-blake/) > [Energy is the only life, and is from the body; and reason is the bound or outward circumference of energy. Energy is eternal delight.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-blake/energy-is-the-only-life-and-is-from-the-body-and-reason-is-the-bound/) [William Blake](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-blake/) > [I do believe that any sort of electromagnetic energy that can be measured beyond the moment of death is, by the definition of energy,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-waid/i-do-believe-that-any-sort-of-electromagnetic-energy-that-can-be/) [Mark Waid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-waid/) > [“In life, the visible surface of the Sperm Whale is not the least among the many marvels he presents. Almost invariably it is all…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herman-melville/in-life-the-visible-surface-of-the-sperm-whale-is-not-the-least-among/) [Herman Melville](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herman-melville/) > [Our blessed Savior chose the Garden for his Oratory, and dying, for the place of his Sepulchre; and we do avouch for many weighty…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-evelyn/our-blessed-savior-chose-the-garden-for-his-oratory-and-dying-for-the/) [John Evelyn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-evelyn/) > [Therefore, the central point which we see in the centre of the hieroglyphic Monad produces the Earth , round which the Sun , the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dee/therefore-the-central-point-which-we-see-in-the-centre-of-the/) [John Dee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dee/) > [Books, books, books in all their aspects, in form and spirit, their physical selves and what reading releases from their hieroglyphic pages, in their…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lawrence-clark-powell/books-books-books-in-all-their-aspects-in-form-and-spirit-their/) [Lawrence Clark Powell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lawrence-clark-powell/) > [Books, as Dryden has aptly termed them, are spectacles to read nature. Aeschylus and Aristotle, Shakespeare and Bacon, are priests who preach and expound…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/augustus-william-hare/books-as-dryden-has-aptly-termed-them-are-spectacles-to-read-nature/) [Augustus William Hare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/augustus-william-hare/) > [Behind the hieroglyphic streets there would either be a transcendent meaning, or only the earth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-pynchon/behind-the-hieroglyphic-streets-there-would-either-be-a-transcendent/) [Thomas Pynchon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-pynchon/) > [“This grimoire was written in the language of angels." "Shouldn't that be,like, harp music or chanting, and not hard-core hieroglyphics?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rachel-hawkins/this-grimoire-was-written-in-the-language-of-angels-shouldn-t-that-be/) [Rachel Hawkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rachel-hawkins/) > [Then he knew that they had rounded the cape of good hope, and he took her large, soft hand again and covered it with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gabriel-garc-a-m-rquez/then-he-knew-that-they-had-rounded-the-cape-of-good-hope-and-he-took/) [Gabriel Garcia Marquez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gabriel-garc-a-m-rquez/) > [In the mythus a superhuman intelligence uses the unconscious thoughts and dreams of men as its hieroglyphics to address men unborn.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-david-thoreau/in-the-mythus-a-superhuman-intelligence-uses-the-unconscious-thoughts/) [Henry David Thoreau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-david-thoreau/) > [Everything in this world has a hidden meaning, I thought. Men, animals, trees, stars, they are all hieroglyphics; woe to anyone who begins to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nikos-kazantzakis/everything-in-this-world-has-a-hidden-meaning-i-thought-men-animals/) [Nikos Kazantzakis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nikos-kazantzakis/) ## More by Kenneth Clark > [To hurry through the rise and fall of a fine, full sentence is like defying the role of time in human life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kenneth-clark/to-hurry-through-the-rise-and-fall-of-a-fine-full-sentence-is-like/) [Kenneth Clark](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kenneth-clark/) > [All color is no color.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kenneth-clark/all-color-is-no-color/) [Kenneth Clark](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kenneth-clark/) > [The nude does not simply represent the body, but relates it, by analogy, to all structures that have become part of our imaginative experience.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kenneth-clark/the-nude-does-not-simply-represent-the-body-but-relates-it-by-analogy/) [Kenneth Clark](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kenneth-clark/) > [Ruthless, greedy, tyrannical, disreputable they have had one principle worth all the rest, the principle of delight!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kenneth-clark/ruthless-greedy-tyrannical-disreputable-they-have-had-one-principle/) [Kenneth Clark](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kenneth-clark/) > [Those who wish, in the interest of morality, to reduce Leonardo, that inexhaustible source of creative power, to a neutral or sexless agency, have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kenneth-clark/those-who-wish-in-the-interest-of-morality-to-reduce-leonardo-that/) [Kenneth Clark](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kenneth-clark/) > [It is often said that Leonardo drew so well because he knew about things; it is truer to say that he knew about things…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kenneth-clark/it-is-often-said-that-leonardo-drew-so-well-because-he-knew-about/) [Kenneth Clark](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kenneth-clark/) > [A lot of people you think you know you don't know until you find out you don't know then it may be too late…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kenneth-clark/a-lot-of-people-you-think-you-know-you-don-t-know-until-you-find-out/) [Kenneth Clark](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kenneth-clark/) > [The dark ghettos are social, political, educational and-above all-economic colonies. Their inhabitants are subject peoples, victims of the greed, cruelty, insensitivity, guilt, and fear…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kenneth-clark/the-dark-ghettos-are-social-political-educational-and-above-all/) [Kenneth Clark](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kenneth-clark/) > [Devotion to the facts will always give the pleasures of recognition; adherence to the rules of design, the pleasures of order and certainty.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kenneth-clark/devotion-to-the-facts-will-always-give-the-pleasures-of-recognition/) [Kenneth Clark](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kenneth-clark/) > [Over and above the political, economic, sociological, and international implications of racial prejudices, their major significance is that they place unnecessary burdens upon human…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kenneth-clark/over-and-above-the-political-economic-sociological-and-international/) [Kenneth Clark](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kenneth-clark/) > [Racial prejudices are indication of a disturbed and potentially unstable society.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kenneth-clark/racial-prejudices-are-indication-of-a-disturbed-and-potentially/) [Kenneth Clark](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kenneth-clark/) > [Fine colour implies a unified relationship, in which each part is subordinate to the whole, and the transitions between them are felt to be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kenneth-clark/fine-colour-implies-a-unified-relationship-in-which-each-part-is/) [Kenneth Clark](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kenneth-clark/) > [All great civilizations, in their early stages, are based on success in war.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kenneth-clark/all-great-civilizations-in-their-early-stages-are-based-on-success-in/) [Kenneth Clark](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kenneth-clark/) > [This became Delacroix 's theme: that the achievements of the spirit all that a great library contained were the result of a state of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kenneth-clark/this-became-delacroix-s-theme-that-the-achievements-of-the-spirit-all/) [Kenneth Clark](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kenneth-clark/) > [Antique art has come down to us in a fragmentary condition, and we have virtuously adapted our taste to this necessity. Almost all our…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kenneth-clark/antique-art-has-come-down-to-us-in-a-fragmentary-condition-and-we/) [Kenneth Clark](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kenneth-clark/) [Explore all 71 Kenneth Clark quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kenneth-clark/) ## 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](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/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": "Energy is eternal delight; and from the earliest times human beings have tried to imprison it in some durable hieroglyphic. 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