--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: A primary function of art andthought is…" description: "\"A primary function of art andthought is to liberate the individual from the tyranny of his culture in the environmental sense and to permit him to stan..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/917/lionel-trilling-12210_art_a-primary-function-of-art-andthought-is_177552.png" --- # A primary function of art andthought is to liberate the… ![“A primary function of art andthought is to liberate the individual from the tyranny of his culture in the environmental sense and to permit him to stand beyond itin an autonomy of perceptionand judgment.” quote by Lionel Trilling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/917/lionel-trilling-12210_art_a-primary-function-of-art-andthought-is_177552.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/917/lionel-trilling-12210_art_a-primary-function-of-art-andthought-is_177552.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/917/lionel-trilling-12210_art_a-primary-function-of-art-andthought-is_177552.png) > “A primary function of art andthought is to liberate the individual from the tyranny of his culture in the environmental sense and to permit him to stand beyond itin an autonomy of perceptionand judgment.” [Lionel Trilling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lionel-trilling/) This quote is also attributed to [Beverly Sills](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/beverly-sills/) in other sources. Attributions for famous quotes are often disputed. ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Art and thought should free individuals from cultural constraints, allowing independent perception and judgment. **In simple terms:** Art liberates us from cultural tyranny. Key Takeaway Seek autonomy in thinking and feeling. Themes freedom individualism culture Mood reflective inquisitive Type philosophical analytical When to use this quote - education - media consumption - personal reflection - creative writing Key Concepts critical theory aesthetic philosophy Questions to Reflect On - In what ways does culture shape your judgments? - How can you cultivate independent perception? A Different Perspective Cultural influences are pervasive and hard to escape. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Art](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/art/) [Artist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/artist/) [Freedom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/freedom/) ## Related quotes > [A primary function of art and thought is to liberate the individual from the tyranny of his culture in the environmental sense and to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/beverly-sills/a-primary-function-of-art-and-thought-is-to-liberate-the-individual/) [Beverly Sills](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/beverly-sills/) > [The primary function of art is not to imitate or represent or interpret, but to create a living thing; it is the reduction of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lawren-harris/the-primary-function-of-art-is-not-to-imitate-or-represent-or/) [Lawren Harris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lawren-harris/) > [Responsibility and danger do not tend to free or stimulate the average person's mind- rather the contrary; but wherever they do liberate an individual's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-von-clausewitz/responsibility-and-danger-do-not-tend-to-free-or-stimulate-the/) [Carl von Clausewitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-von-clausewitz/) > [When your primary function is to be happy, then whatever comes to you is irrelevant. Happiness is your true manifestation.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gabrielle-bernstein/when-your-primary-function-is-to-be-happy-then-whatever-comes-to-you/) [Gabrielle Bernstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gabrielle-bernstein/) > [Leadership produces change. That is its primary function](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-p-kotter/leadership-produces-change-that-is-its-primary-function/) [John P. Kotter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-p-kotter/) > [I think our primary function is to create the strongest, deepest, most interesting news report there is in the world.And whether it's on the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jill-abramson/i-think-our-primary-function-is-to-create-the-strongest-deepest-most/) [Jill Abramson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jill-abramson/) > [The primary function of a constitution was to mark out the boundaries of governmental powers-hence in England, where there was no constitution , there…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bernard-bailyn/the-primary-function-of-a-constitution-was-to-mark-out-the-boundaries/) [Bernard Bailyn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bernard-bailyn/) > [Our primary function is to create an emotion and our secondary function is to sustain that emotions.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-hitchcock/our-primary-function-is-to-create-an-emotion-and-our-secondary/) [Alfred Hitchcock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-hitchcock/) > [It has been said that the primary function of schools is to impart enough facts to make children stop asking questions. Some, with whom…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/knut-schmidt-nielsen/it-has-been-said-that-the-primary-function-of-schools-is-to-impart/) Knut Schmidt-Nielsen > [The allotted function of art is not, as is often assumed, to put across ideas, to propagate thoughts, to serve as an example. The…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrei-tarkovsky/the-allotted-function-of-art-is-not-as-is-often-assumed-to-put-across/) [Andrei Tarkovsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrei-tarkovsky/) > [It is certain that the real function of art is to increase our self-consciousness; to make us more aware of what we are, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-w-n-sullivan/it-is-certain-that-the-real-function-of-art-is-to-increase-our-self/) [J. W. N. Sullivan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-w-n-sullivan/) > [The true function of art is to criticize, embellish and edit nature… the artist is a sort of impassioned proof-reader, blue penciling the bad…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-true-function-of-art-is-to-criticize-embellish-and-edit-nature/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“It is the function of art to renew our perception. What we are familiar with, we cease to see.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anais-nin/it-is-the-function-of-art-to-renew-our-perception-what-we-are-2/) [Anaïs Nin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anais-nin/) > [The function of art is to do more than tell it like it is-it’s to imagine what is possible.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bell-hooks/the-function-of-art-is-to-do-more-than-tell-it-like-it-is-it-s-to/) [Bell Hooks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bell-hooks/) > [The function of Art is to disturb. Science reassures.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/georges-braque/the-function-of-art-is-to-disturb-science-reassures/) [Georges Braque](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/georges-braque/) ## More by Lionel Trilling > [Our culture peculiarly honors the act of blaming, which it takes as the sign of virtue and intellect.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lionel-trilling/our-culture-peculiarly-honors-the-act-of-blaming-which-it-takes-as/) [Lionel Trilling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lionel-trilling/) > [The definitions of humanism are many, but let us here take it to be the attitude of those men who think it an advantage…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lionel-trilling/the-definitions-of-humanism-are-many-but-let-us-here-take-it-to-be/) [Lionel Trilling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lionel-trilling/) > [Literature is the human activity that make the fullest and most precise account of variousness, possibility, complexity, and difficulty.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lionel-trilling/literature-is-the-human-activity-that-make-the-fullest-and-most/) [Lionel Trilling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lionel-trilling/) > [Being a Jew is like walking in the wind or swimming: you are touched at all points and conscious everywhere.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lionel-trilling/being-a-jew-is-like-walking-in-the-wind-or-swimming-you-are-touched/) [Lionel Trilling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lionel-trilling/) > [It is possible that the contemplation of cruelty will not make us humane but cruel; that the reiteration of the badness of our spiritual…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lionel-trilling/it-is-possible-that-the-contemplation-of-cruelty-will-not-make-us/) [Lionel Trilling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lionel-trilling/) > [Every neurosis is a primitive form of legal proceeding in which the accused carries on the prosecution, imposes judgment and executes the sentence: all…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lionel-trilling/every-neurosis-is-a-primitive-form-of-legal-proceeding-in-which-the/) [Lionel Trilling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lionel-trilling/) > [Some paradox of our natures leads us, when once we have made our fellow men the objects of our enlightened interest, to go on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lionel-trilling/some-paradox-of-our-natures-leads-us-when-once-we-have-made-our/) [Lionel Trilling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lionel-trilling/) > [In the American Metaphysical, reality is always material reality, hard, resistant, unformed, impenetrable, and unpleasant.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lionel-trilling/in-the-american-metaphysical-reality-is-always-material-reality-hard/) [Lionel Trilling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lionel-trilling/) > [“...perhaps we have never been more than vocal and perhaps soon we can hope to be no more than thoughtful...”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lionel-trilling/perhaps-we-have-never-been-more-than-vocal-and-perhaps-soon-we-can/) [Lionel Trilling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lionel-trilling/) > [It is now life and not art that requires the willing suspension of disbelief.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lionel-trilling/it-is-now-life-and-not-art-that-requires-the-willing-suspension-of/) [Lionel Trilling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lionel-trilling/) > [Ideology is not the product of thought; it is the habit or the ritual of showing respect for certain formulas to which, for various…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lionel-trilling/ideology-is-not-the-product-of-thought-it-is-the-habit-or-the-ritual/) [Lionel Trilling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lionel-trilling/) > [There is no connection between the political ideas of our educated class and the deep places of the imagination.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lionel-trilling/there-is-no-connection-between-the-political-ideas-of-our-educated/) [Lionel Trilling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lionel-trilling/) > [The function of literature, through all its mutations, has been to make us aware of the particularity of selves, and the high authority of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lionel-trilling/the-function-of-literature-through-all-its-mutations-has-been-to-make/) [Lionel Trilling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lionel-trilling/) > [Unless we insist that politics is imagination and mind, we will learn that imagination and mind are politics, and of a kind we will…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lionel-trilling/unless-we-insist-that-politics-is-imagination-and-mind-we-will-learn/) [Lionel Trilling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lionel-trilling/) > [We who are liberal and progressive know that the poor are our equals in every sense except that of being equal to us.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lionel-trilling/we-who-are-liberal-and-progressive-know-that-the-poor-are-our-equals/) [Lionel Trilling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lionel-trilling/) [Explore all 56 Lionel Trilling quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lionel-trilling/) ## 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": "A primary function of art andthought is to liberate the individual from the tyranny of his culture in the environmental sense and to permit him to stand beyond itin an autonomy of perceptionand judgment.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Lionel Trilling" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lionel-trilling/a-primary-function-of-art-andthought-is-to-liberate-the-individual/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Art" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lionel-trilling/a-primary-function-of-art-andthought-is-to-liberate-the-individual/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/917/lionel-trilling-12210_art_a-primary-function-of-art-andthought-is_177552.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/917/lionel-trilling-12210_art_a-primary-function-of-art-andthought-is_177552.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/917/lionel-trilling-12210_art_a-primary-function-of-art-andthought-is_177552.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“A primary function of art andthought is to liberate the individual from the tyranny of his culture in the…” — Lionel Trilling", "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": "Lionel Trilling", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lionel-trilling/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "A primary function of art andthought...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lionel-trilling/a-primary-function-of-art-andthought-is-to-liberate-the-individual/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lionel-trilling/a-primary-function-of-art-andthought-is-to-liberate-the-individual/#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 } } ] } ```