--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The arts, it has been said, cannot change…" description: "\"The arts, it has been said, cannot change the world, but they may change human beings who might change the world.\" — Maxine Greene" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4be/maxine-greene-40156_art_the-arts-it-has-been-said-cannot-change_2659363.jpg" --- # The arts, it has been said, cannot change the world, but… ![“The arts, it has been said, cannot change the world, but they may change human beings who might change the world.” quote by Maxine Greene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4be/maxine-greene-40156_art_the-arts-it-has-been-said-cannot-change_2659363.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4be/maxine-greene-40156_art_the-arts-it-has-been-said-cannot-change_2659363.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4be/maxine-greene-40156_art_the-arts-it-has-been-said-cannot-change_2659363.jpg) > “The arts, it has been said, cannot change the world, but they may change human beings who might change the world.” [Maxine Greene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maxine-greene/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Arts may not directly alter societal structures, but they transform individuals, who can then enact change. **In simple terms:** Arts change people, who change the world. Key Takeaway Use art to inspire personal growth. Themes education transformation social change Mood optimistic reflective Type educational inspirational When to use this quote - classroom teaching - community workshops - personal reflection - activist movements Key Concepts human development creative influence empowerment Questions to Reflect On - How can personal change lead to societal impact? - What limits artistic influence on policy? A Different Perspective Art alone cannot solve systemic issues. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Art](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/art/) [Artist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/artist/) [Change](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/change/) [Change the world](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/change-the-world/) [Changing the world](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/changing-the-world/) [Human beings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/human-beings/) [Humans](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/humans/) [World](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/world/) ## Related quotes > [One thing we must understand, that if we have to change the world, we have to change human beings. People think by giving lectures,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nirmala-srivastava/one-thing-we-must-understand-that-if-we-have-to-change-the-world-we/) [Nirmala Srivastava](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nirmala-srivastava/) > [I'm not out to change the world. I'm out to change mine.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rodney-white/i-m-not-out-to-change-the-world-i-m-out-to-change-mine/) Rodney White > [Even if you Can't Change the World, you Can Change Individuals](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dan-howell/even-if-you-can-t-change-the-world-you-can-change-individuals/) [Dan Howell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dan-howell/) > [Newtonian physics is over. You don't act on the world to change the world. You realize the world is a projection of your inner…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marianne-williamson/newtonian-physics-is-over-you-don-t-act-on-the-world-to-change-the/) [Marianne Williamson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marianne-williamson/) > [Actually, it does start with you - if you want to change the world, change yourself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rupaul/actually-it-does-start-with-you-if-you-want-to-change-the-world/) [RuPaul](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rupaul/) > [The message I'm sending to myself - I can't change the world until I change myself first.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kendrick-lamar/the-message-i-m-sending-to-myself-i-can-t-change-the-world-until-i/) [Kendrick Lamar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kendrick-lamar/) > [“You may not be able to change the world, but when you change your world, you have taken a major step in changing the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/you-may-not-be-able-to-change-the-world-but-when-you-change-your/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Don't change the world, change worlds.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francis-of-assisi/don-t-change-the-world-change-worlds/) [Francis of Assisi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francis-of-assisi/) > [We can only change the world if we have a heart for the world and deliver the message for the world. We can only…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jerry-falwell/we-can-only-change-the-world-if-we-have-a-heart-for-the-world-and/) [Jerry Falwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jerry-falwell/) > [If you want to change the world, first change your heart.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/confucius/if-you-want-to-change-the-world-first-change-your-heart/) [Confucius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/confucius/) > [When Obama ran, he said, We can change the world! The world: can you change it back?!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mort-sahl/when-obama-ran-he-said-we-can-change-the-world-the-world-can-you/) [Mort Sahl](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mort-sahl/) > [When we pray, we don't change the world, we change ourselves.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rachel-naomi-remen/when-we-pray-we-don-t-change-the-world-we-change-ourselves/) [Rachel Naomi Remen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rachel-naomi-remen/) > [If you want to change the world, change it through the market](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-gilding/if-you-want-to-change-the-world-change-it-through-the-market/) [Paul Gilding](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-gilding/) > [We think it is complicated to change the world. Change comes little by little. Nothing worthwhile can happen in one generation.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-young/we-think-it-is-complicated-to-change-the-world-change-comes-little-by/) [Andrew Young](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-young/) > [Few of us can actually change the world. We can only change ourselves. But if enough people took that to heart, the world would…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tammara-webber/few-of-us-can-actually-change-the-world-we-can-only-change-ourselves/) [Tammara Webber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tammara-webber/) ## More by Maxine Greene > [I am forever on the way](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maxine-greene/i-am-forever-on-the-way/) [Maxine Greene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maxine-greene/) > [We go to sea repeatedly from Melville's time on - and the image of men at sea, like the image of men in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maxine-greene/we-go-to-sea-repeatedly-from-melville-s-time-on-and-the-image-of-men/) [Maxine Greene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maxine-greene/) > [To be moral involves taking a position towards that matrix, thinking critically about what is taken for granted.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maxine-greene/to-be-moral-involves-taking-a-position-towards-that-matrix-thinking/) [Maxine Greene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maxine-greene/) > [Without the ability to think about yourself, to reflect on your life, there’s really no awareness, no consciousness. Consciousness doesn’t come automatically; it comes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maxine-greene/without-the-ability-to-think-about-yourself-to-reflect-on-your-life/) [Maxine Greene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maxine-greene/) > [What is crucial is the provision of opportunities for telling all the diverse stories, for interpreting membership as well as ethnicity, for making inescapable…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maxine-greene/what-is-crucial-is-the-provision-of-opportunities-for-telling-all-the/) [Maxine Greene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maxine-greene/) > [A teacher in search of his/her own freedom may be the only kind of teacher who can arouse young persons to go in search…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maxine-greene/a-teacher-in-search-of-his-her-own-freedom-may-be-the-only-kind-of/) [Maxine Greene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maxine-greene/) > [Part of teaching is helping people create themselves.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maxine-greene/part-of-teaching-is-helping-people-create-themselves/) [Maxine Greene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maxine-greene/) > [At the very least, participatory involvement with the many forms of art can enable us to see more in our experience, to hear more…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maxine-greene/at-the-very-least-participatory-involvement-with-the-many-forms-of/) [Maxine Greene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maxine-greene/) > [“I am what I am not yet.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maxine-greene/i-am-what-i-am-not-yet/) [Maxine Greene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maxine-greene/) > [For me, the child is a veritable image of becoming, of possibility, poised to reach towards what is not yet, towards a growing that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maxine-greene/for-me-the-child-is-a-veritable-image-of-becoming-of-possibility/) [Maxine Greene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maxine-greene/) [Explore all 11 Maxine Greene quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maxine-greene/) ## 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. 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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. 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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": "The arts, it has been said, cannot change the world, but they may change human beings who might change the world.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Maxine Greene" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maxine-greene/the-arts-it-has-been-said-cannot-change-the-world-but-they-may-change/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Art" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maxine-greene/the-arts-it-has-been-said-cannot-change-the-world-but-they-may-change/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4be/maxine-greene-40156_art_the-arts-it-has-been-said-cannot-change_2659363.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4be/maxine-greene-40156_art_the-arts-it-has-been-said-cannot-change_2659363.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4be/maxine-greene-40156_art_the-arts-it-has-been-said-cannot-change_2659363.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“The arts, it has been said, cannot change the world, but they may change human beings who might change the…” — Maxine Greene", "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": "Maxine Greene", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maxine-greene/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "The arts, it has been said,...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maxine-greene/the-arts-it-has-been-said-cannot-change-the-world-but-they-may-change/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maxine-greene/the-arts-it-has-been-said-cannot-change-the-world-but-they-may-change/#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 } } ] } ```