--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: If art is not to be life-enhancing, what…" description: "\"If art is not to be life-enhancing, what is it to be?\" — May Sarton" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/694/may-sarton-897_art_if-art-is-not-to-be-life-enhancing-what_2793287.jpg" --- # If art is not to be life-enhancing, what is it to be? ![“If art is not to be life-enhancing, what is it to be?” quote by May Sarton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/694/may-sarton-897_art_if-art-is-not-to-be-life-enhancing-what_2793287.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/694/may-sarton-897_art_if-art-is-not-to-be-life-enhancing-what_2793287.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/694/may-sarton-897_art_if-art-is-not-to-be-life-enhancing-what_2793287.jpg) > “If art is not to be life-enhancing, what is it to be?” [May Sarton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/may-sarton/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Art should enhance life; if it doesn’t, its purpose is questionable. **In simple terms:** Art must improve life. Key Takeaway Create art that adds value. Themes art purpose life enhancement Mood contemplative inquisitive Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - public installations - educational programs - personal creative projects Key Concepts Aesthetic value human flourishing meaningful creation Questions to Reflect On - What does “enhancing life” mean to you? - Can art be valuable without being uplifting? A Different Perspective Some art aims to provoke, not comfort. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Art](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/art/) [Artist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/artist/) [Enhancing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/enhancing/) [Inspirational](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/inspirational/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Love](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/love/) ## Related quotes > [Wanting to have a positive impact on those around you is a great way to motivate yourself. It is also very life enhancing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/senoraroy/wanting-to-have-a-positive-impact-on-those-around-you-is-a-great-way/) Senoraroy > [Racing should never be an ordeal, rather an enjoyable and life-enhancing experience.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bruce-fordyce/racing-should-never-be-an-ordeal-rather-an-enjoyable-and-life/) Bruce Fordyce > [Space travel is life-enhancing, and anything that's life-enhancing is worth doing. It makes you want to live forever.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ray-bradbury/space-travel-is-life-enhancing-and-anything-that-s-life-enhancing-is/) [Ray Bradbury](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ray-bradbury/) > [Give the benefit of the doubt; assume that your beloved's intentions are life-enhancing and positive.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-friend/give-the-benefit-of-the-doubt-assume-that-your-beloved-s-intentions/) [John Friend](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-friend/) > [“The answer is that if you’re doing something purposeful and life enhancing, keep doing it and engage in it fully; focus all your attention…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/russ-harris/the-answer-is-that-if-you-re-doing-something-purposeful-and-life/) [Russ Harris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/russ-harris/) > [Passion is the relentless pursuit of those life-enhancing activities or experiences that give our souls meaning.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janet-hagberg/passion-is-the-relentless-pursuit-of-those-life-enhancing-activities/) [Janet Hagberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janet-hagberg/) > [Whether you're a man or a woman, life can be very, very difficult and confusing and desperate, and it's life-enhancing to know that somehow,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marianne-elliott/whether-you-re-a-man-or-a-woman-life-can-be-very-very-difficult-and/) [Marianne Elliott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marianne-elliott/) > [There is a beautiful and life-enhancing alternative outlook that offers insight, consolation, inspiration and meaning, which has nothing to do with religion, and everything…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/a-c-grayling/there-is-a-beautiful-and-life-enhancing-alternative-outlook-that/) [A.C. Grayling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/a-c-grayling/) > [When you move toward that which is most fulfilling and life-enhancing, healing follows regardless of what your health is like in that moment.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christiane-northrup/when-you-move-toward-that-which-is-most-fulfilling-and-life-enhancing/) [Christiane Northrup](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christiane-northrup/) > [Laughter heals, gives solace, and is life enhancing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/liz-carpenter/laughter-heals-gives-solace-and-is-life-enhancing/) [Liz Carpenter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/liz-carpenter/) > [I could always live in my art but never in my life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ingmar-bergman/i-could-always-live-in-my-art-but-never-in-my-life/) [Ingmar Bergman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ingmar-bergman/) > [The art of life is to know how to enjoy a little and to endure very much.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-hazlitt/the-art-of-life-is-to-know-how-to-enjoy-a-little-and-to-endure-very/) [William Hazlitt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-hazlitt/) > [Life is art. Art is life. I never separate it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ai-weiwei/life-is-art-art-is-life-i-never-separate-it/) [Ai Weiwei](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ai-weiwei/) > [Art is indeed not the bread but the wine of life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-paul/art-is-indeed-not-the-bread-but-the-wine-of-life/) [Jean Paul](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-paul/) > [To approach a city, or even a city neighborhood, as if it were a larger architectural problem, capable of being given order by converting…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-jacobs/to-approach-a-city-or-even-a-city-neighborhood-as-if-it-were-a-larger/) [Jane Jacobs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-jacobs/) ## More by May Sarton > [“I felt pain like an assault, The old pain again When the world thrusts itself inside, When we have to take in the outside,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/may-sarton/i-felt-pain-like-an-assault-the-old-pain-again-when-the-world-thrusts/) [May Sarton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/may-sarton/) > [Most people have to talk so they won't hear.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/may-sarton/most-people-have-to-talk-so-they-won-t-hear/) [May Sarton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/may-sarton/) > [People who cannot feel punish those who do.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/may-sarton/people-who-cannot-feel-punish-those-who-do/) [May Sarton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/may-sarton/) > [This suspension of one's own reality, this being entirely alone in a strange city (at times I wondered if I had lost the power…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/may-sarton/this-suspension-of-one-s-own-reality-this-being-entirely-alone-in-a/) [May Sarton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/may-sarton/) > [One must think like a hero to behave like a merely decent human being.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/may-sarton/one-must-think-like-a-hero-to-behave-like-a-merely-decent-human-being/) [May Sarton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/may-sarton/) > [Real joy is becoming exceedingly rare among artists of any kind. And I have an idea that those who can and do communicate it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/may-sarton/real-joy-is-becoming-exceedingly-rare-among-artists-of-any-kind-and-i/) [May Sarton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/may-sarton/) > [For to be desperate is to discover strength. / We die of comfort and by conflict live.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/may-sarton/for-to-be-desperate-is-to-discover-strength-we-die-of-comfort-and-by/) [May Sarton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/may-sarton/) > [“I see you with that shell Held to your sensitive abstracted ear, Hunting the ocean’s rumor till you hear it well, Until you can…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/may-sarton/i-see-you-with-that-shell-held-to-your-sensitive-abstracted-ear/) [May Sarton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/may-sarton/) > [There is a wilder solitude in winter When every sense is pricked alive and keen.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/may-sarton/there-is-a-wilder-solitude-in-winter-when-every-sense-is-pricked/) [May Sarton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/may-sarton/) > [I long for the bulbs to arrive, for the early autumn chores are melancholy, but the planting of bulbs is the work of hope…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/may-sarton/i-long-for-the-bulbs-to-arrive-for-the-early-autumn-chores-are/) [May Sarton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/may-sarton/) > [Why is it that people who cannot show feeling presume that that is a strength and not a weakness?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/may-sarton/why-is-it-that-people-who-cannot-show-feeling-presume-that-that-is-a/) [May Sarton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/may-sarton/) > [Innocence is not pure so much as pleased, Always expectant, bright-eyed, self-enclosed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/may-sarton/innocence-is-not-pure-so-much-as-pleased-always-expectant-bright-eyed/) [May Sarton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/may-sarton/) > [I have written every poem, every novel, for the same purpose-to find out what I think, to know where I stand.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/may-sarton/i-have-written-every-poem-every-novel-for-the-same-purpose-to-find/) [May Sarton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/may-sarton/) > [For art is order, but it is born out of the chaos of life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/may-sarton/for-art-is-order-but-it-is-born-out-of-the-chaos-of-life/) [May Sarton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/may-sarton/) > [all great people are humble because great people have great work and are humbled by the largeness of their dreams.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/may-sarton/all-great-people-are-humble-because-great-people-have-great-work-and/) [May Sarton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/may-sarton/) [Explore all 336 May Sarton quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/may-sarton/) ## 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": "If art is not to be life-enhancing, what is it to be?", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "May Sarton" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/may-sarton/if-art-is-not-to-be-life-enhancing-what-is-it-to-be/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Art" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/may-sarton/if-art-is-not-to-be-life-enhancing-what-is-it-to-be/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/694/may-sarton-897_art_if-art-is-not-to-be-life-enhancing-what_2793287.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/694/may-sarton-897_art_if-art-is-not-to-be-life-enhancing-what_2793287.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/694/may-sarton-897_art_if-art-is-not-to-be-life-enhancing-what_2793287.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“If art is not to be life-enhancing, what is it to be?” — May Sarton", "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": "May Sarton", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/may-sarton/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "If art is not to be...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/may-sarton/if-art-is-not-to-be-life-enhancing-what-is-it-to-be/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/may-sarton/if-art-is-not-to-be-life-enhancing-what-is-it-to-be/#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 } } ] } ```