--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Art and propaganda have this much…" description: "\"Art and propaganda have this much connection, that if a propaganda makes art impossible, it is clearly damned.\" — Rebecca West" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/728/rebecca-west-1248_art_art-and-propaganda-have-this-much-connec_113687.jpg" --- # Art and propaganda have this much connection, that if a… ![“Art and propaganda have this much connection, that if a propaganda makes art impossible, it is clearly damned.” quote by Rebecca West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/728/rebecca-west-1248_art_art-and-propaganda-have-this-much-connec_113687.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/728/rebecca-west-1248_art_art-and-propaganda-have-this-much-connec_113687.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/728/rebecca-west-1248_art_art-and-propaganda-have-this-much-connec_113687.jpg) > “Art and propaganda have this much connection, that if a propaganda makes art impossible, it is clearly damned.” [Rebecca West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rebecca-west/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. When propaganda suppresses artistic expression, it betrays its own purpose, because art inherently resists manipulation and seeks truth. **In simple terms:** Propaganda that kills art is self‑defeating. Key Takeaway Art and propaganda are mutually exclusive when art is stifled. Themes art propaganda freedom of expression censorship Mood critical defiant Type political cultural When to use this quote - authoritarian regimes limiting media - advertising that disguises persuasion as art Key Concepts political manipulation of culture Practical Applications - Support independent art platforms to counter propaganda Questions to Reflect On - When does art become a tool of persuasion? - How can societies protect artistic freedom? A Different Perspective Some propaganda uses art deliberately to spread its message, showing they can coexist. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Art](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/art/) [Art Impossible](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/art-impossible-776648/) [Art Propaganda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/art-propaganda-452471/) [Artist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/artist/) [Connections](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/connections/) [Ifs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ifs/) [Impossible](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/impossible/) [Propaganda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/propaganda/) [Propaganda Connection](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/propaganda-connection-1344434/) [Propaganda Makes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/propaganda-makes-1344435/) ## Related quotes > [Loud peace propaganda makes war seem imminent.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/d-h-lawrence/loud-peace-propaganda-makes-war-seem-imminent/) [D. H. Lawrence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/d-h-lawrence/) > [“It is asked whether, in fact, the leader makes propaganda, or whether propaganda makes the leader. There is a widespread impression that a good…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-l-bernays/it-is-asked-whether-in-fact-the-leader-makes-propaganda-or-whether/) [Edward L. Bernays](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-l-bernays/) > [I don't think art is propaganda; it should be something that liberates the soul, provokes the imagination and encourages people to go further. It…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/keith-haring/i-don-t-think-art-is-propaganda-it-should-be-something-that-liberates/) [Keith Haring](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/keith-haring/) > [ \[Propaganda\] must be aimed at the emotions and only to a very limited degree at the so-called intellect... The art of propaganda lies in… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adolf-hitler/propaganda-must-be-aimed-at-the-emotions-and-only-to-a-very-limited/) [Adolf Hitler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adolf-hitler/) > [All art is propaganda...I do not care a damn, for any art that is not used for propaganda.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-e-b-du-bois/all-art-is-propaganda-i-do-not-care-a-damn-for-any-art-that-is-not/) [W. E. B. Du Bois](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-e-b-du-bois/) > [I never wished to be a politician, and I despise them. 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Eliot focused on one of his generation's recurrent anxieties--the idea that art might be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jewel-spears-brooker/in-his-1923-review-of-james-joyce-ulysses-t-s-eliot-focused-on-one-of/) [Jewel Spears Brooker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jewel-spears-brooker/) > [Creativity is the art of the impossible](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-okri/creativity-is-the-art-of-the-impossible/) [Ben Okri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-okri/) > [If politics is the art of the possible, theatre is the art of the impossible.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herbert-blau/if-politics-is-the-art-of-the-possible-theatre-is-the-art-of-the/) [Herbert Blau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herbert-blau/) > [All truly great art is propaganda.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ann-petry/all-truly-great-art-is-propaganda/) [Ann Petry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ann-petry/) > [Malevich, Lissitsky, Kandinsky, Tatlin, Pevsner, Rodchenko… all believed in the social role of art… Their works were like hinged doors, connecting activity with activity.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-berger/malevich-lissitsky-kandinsky-tatlin-pevsner-rodchenko-all-believed-in/) [John Berger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-berger/) > [I could hardly sit through 'Frozen.' There was an attempt to craft a moral message and to build the story around that, instead of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jordan-peterson/i-could-hardly-sit-through-frozen-there-was-an-attempt-to-craft-a/) [Jordan Peterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jordan-peterson/) ## More by Rebecca West > [I see the main problem of my life, and indeed anybody's life, as the balancing of competitive freedoms ... a sense of mutual obligations…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rebecca-west/i-see-the-main-problem-of-my-life-and-indeed-anybody-s-life-as-the/) [Rebecca West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rebecca-west/) > [“There is, of course, no reason for the existence of the male sex except that sometimes one needs help with moving the piano.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rebecca-west/there-is-of-course-no-reason-for-the-existence-of-the-male-sex-except/) [Rebecca West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rebecca-west/) > [“At the top of a hill our automobile stuck in a snowdrift. 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I often have a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rebecca-west/if-there-is-a-god-i-don-t-think-he-would-demand-that-anyone-bow-down/) [Rebecca West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rebecca-west/) > [Any authentic work of art must start an argument between the artist and his audience.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rebecca-west/any-authentic-work-of-art-must-start-an-argument-between-the-artist/) [Rebecca West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rebecca-west/) > [... there has never been a period in history when there have been necessary killings which has not been instantly followed by a period…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rebecca-west/there-has-never-been-a-period-in-history-when-there-have-been/) [Rebecca West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rebecca-west/) > [“Behind me the past was darker than I had known it, not only irrecoverable, but unexplored, unexplorable.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rebecca-west/behind-me-the-past-was-darker-than-i-had-known-it-not-only/) [Rebecca West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rebecca-west/) [Explore all 264 Rebecca West quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rebecca-west/) ## 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](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/taf-teh/) > [The house has to serve comfort. 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