--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: It is art, and art only, that reveals us…" description: "\"It is art, and art only, that reveals us to ourselves.\" — Oscar Wilde" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e16/oscar-wilde-16_art_it-is-art-and-art-only-that-reveals-us-t_3142014.jpg" --- # It is art, and art only, that reveals us to ourselves. ![“It is art, and art only, that reveals us to ourselves.” quote by Oscar Wilde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e16/oscar-wilde-16_art_it-is-art-and-art-only-that-reveals-us-t_3142014.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e16/oscar-wilde-16_art_it-is-art-and-art-only-that-reveals-us-t_3142014.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e16/oscar-wilde-16_art_it-is-art-and-art-only-that-reveals-us-t_3142014.jpg) > “It is art, and art only, that reveals us to ourselves.” [Oscar Wilde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oscar-wilde/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Art uniquely mirrors our inner selves, exposing truths we often ignore. **In simple terms:** Art shows us who we truly are. Key Takeaway Engage with art to understand yourself. Themes self‑knowledge art reflection Mood contemplative curious Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - museum visits - creative writing - therapy sessions Key Concepts aesthetic experience psychology Questions to Reflect On - What does your favorite artwork reveal about you? - How does art challenge your self‑image? A Different Perspective Art interpretation can be subjective. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Art](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/art/) [Artist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/artist/) [Healing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/healing/) [Inspirational](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/inspirational/) [Love](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/love/) ## Related quotes > [As art reveals the artist more than the world, so you see yourself and what you are not in the mirror of another culture.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jennifer-stone/as-art-reveals-the-artist-more-than-the-world-so-you-see-yourself-and/) [Jennifer Stone](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jennifer-stone/) > [Secrets can actually be quite important. A work of art that reveals its meaning or its power too quickly is uninteresting. It might not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-koerfer/secrets-can-actually-be-quite-important-a-work-of-art-that-reveals/) [Thomas Koerfer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-koerfer/) > [A man who has attained mastery of an art reveals it in his every action.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/a-man-who-has-attained-mastery-of-an-art-reveals-it-in-his-every/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Denigrating art you don't understand doesn't hurt the art - it reveals something about your willingness to learn.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seth-godin/denigrating-art-you-don-t-understand-doesn-t-hurt-the-art-it-reveals/) [Seth Godin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seth-godin/) > [“It often seems to me that art conceals the artist far more completely than it ever reveals him.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oscar-wilde/it-often-seems-to-me-that-art-conceals-the-artist-far-more-completely/) [Oscar Wilde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oscar-wilde/) > [God reveals Himself through surprises.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pope-francis/god-reveals-himself-through-surprises/) [Pope Francis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pope-francis/) > [My research clearly reveals that if we want to put inner-city workers to work immediately, we just can't rely on the private sector. They…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-julius-wilson/my-research-clearly-reveals-that-if-we-want-to-put-inner-city-workers/) [William Julius Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-julius-wilson/) > [“Between the lines of every book the writer reveals their own secrets.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chloe-thurlow/between-the-lines-of-every-book-the-writer-reveals-their-own-secrets/) [Chloe Thurlow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chloe-thurlow/) > [In Art, man reveals himself and not his objects.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rabindranath-tagore/in-art-man-reveals-himself-and-not-his-objects/) [Rabindranath Tagore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rabindranath-tagore/) > [“the abstract reveals after a second”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jinzo-sloatch/the-abstract-reveals-after-a-second/) Jinzo Sloatch > [So long as God reveals Himself, or doesn't, He is behaving like God.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mignon-mclaughlin/so-long-as-god-reveals-himself-or-doesn-t-he-is-behaving-like-god/) [Mignon McLaughlin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mignon-mclaughlin/) > [Certainly, cooking for oneself reveals man at his weirdest.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laurie-colwin/certainly-cooking-for-oneself-reveals-man-at-his-weirdest/) [Laurie Colwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laurie-colwin/) > [Astrology reveals the will of the gods.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/juvenal/astrology-reveals-the-will-of-the-gods/) [Juvenal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/juvenal/) > [Circumstance does not make me, it reveals me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-james/circumstance-does-not-make-me-it-reveals-me/) [William James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-james/) > [“It's in the anomalies that nature reveals its secrets.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/it-s-in-the-anomalies-that-nature-reveals-its-secrets/) [Johann Wolfgang von Goethe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/) ## More by Oscar Wilde > [How else but through a broken heart may Lord Christ enter in?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oscar-wilde/how-else-but-through-a-broken-heart-may-lord-christ-enter-in/) [Oscar Wilde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oscar-wilde/) > [The books that the world calls immoral are the books that show the world its own shame.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oscar-wilde/the-books-that-the-world-calls-immoral-are-the-books-that-show-the/) [Oscar Wilde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oscar-wilde/) > [Bachelors should be heavily taxed. It is not fair that some men should be happier than others](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oscar-wilde/bachelors-should-be-heavily-taxed-it-is-not-fair-that-some-men-should/) [Oscar Wilde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oscar-wilde/) > [Who, being loved, is poor?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oscar-wilde/who-being-loved-is-poor/) [Oscar Wilde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oscar-wilde/) > [“Basil my dear boy puts everything that is charming in him into his work. The consequence is that he has nothing left for life…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oscar-wilde/basil-my-dear-boy-puts-everything-that-is-charming-in-him-into-his/) [Oscar Wilde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oscar-wilde/) > [Anybody can be good in the country](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oscar-wilde/anybody-can-be-good-in-the-country/) [Oscar Wilde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oscar-wilde/) > [I don't at all like knowing what people say of me behind my back. It makes me far too conceited.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oscar-wilde/i-don-t-at-all-like-knowing-what-people-say-of-me-behind-my-back-it/) [Oscar Wilde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oscar-wilde/) > [“Alles Populäre ist falsch.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oscar-wilde/alles-popul-re-ist-falsch/) [Oscar Wilde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oscar-wilde/) > [“If these elements of beauty are real, the whole thing simply appeals to our sense of dramatic effect. Suddenly we find that we are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oscar-wilde/if-these-elements-of-beauty-are-real-the-whole-thing-simply-appeals/) [Oscar Wilde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oscar-wilde/) > [To love one's self is the beginning of a life-long romance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oscar-wilde/to-love-one-s-self-is-the-beginning-of-a-life-long-romance/) [Oscar Wilde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oscar-wilde/) > [“Those who find beautiful meanings in beautiful things are the cultivated. For these there is hope.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oscar-wilde/those-who-find-beautiful-meanings-in-beautiful-things-are-the/) [Oscar Wilde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oscar-wilde/) > [Men always want to be a womans first love. Women have a more subtle instinct: What they like is to be a mans last…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oscar-wilde/men-always-want-to-be-a-womans-first-love-women-have-a-more-subtle/) [Oscar Wilde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oscar-wilde/) > [Why is it that at a bachelor's establishment the servants invariably drink the champagne.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oscar-wilde/why-is-it-that-at-a-bachelor-s-establishment-the-servants-invariably/) [Oscar Wilde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oscar-wilde/) > [Moderation is a fatal thing. Enough is as bad as a meal. More than enough is as good as a feast.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oscar-wilde/moderation-is-a-fatal-thing-enough-is-as-bad-as-a-meal-more-than/) [Oscar Wilde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oscar-wilde/) > [Beauty is the only thing that time cannot harm. Philosophies fall away like sand, creeds follow one another, but what is beautiful is a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oscar-wilde/beauty-is-the-only-thing-that-time-cannot-harm-philosophies-fall-away/) [Oscar Wilde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oscar-wilde/) [Explore all 3,343 Oscar Wilde quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oscar-wilde/) ## 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": "It is art, and art only, that reveals us to ourselves.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Oscar Wilde" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oscar-wilde/it-is-art-and-art-only-that-reveals-us-to-ourselves/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Art" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oscar-wilde/it-is-art-and-art-only-that-reveals-us-to-ourselves/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e16/oscar-wilde-16_art_it-is-art-and-art-only-that-reveals-us-t_3142014.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e16/oscar-wilde-16_art_it-is-art-and-art-only-that-reveals-us-t_3142014.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e16/oscar-wilde-16_art_it-is-art-and-art-only-that-reveals-us-t_3142014.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“It is art, and art only, that reveals us to ourselves.” — Oscar Wilde", "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": "Oscar Wilde", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oscar-wilde/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "It is art, and art only,...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oscar-wilde/it-is-art-and-art-only-that-reveals-us-to-ourselves/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oscar-wilde/it-is-art-and-art-only-that-reveals-us-to-ourselves/#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 } } ] } ```