--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: When religion becomes artificial, art has…" description: "\"When religion becomes artificial, art has a duty to rescue it. Art can show that the symbols which religions would have us believe literally true are a..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f39/richard-wagner-7708_art_when-religion-becomes-artificial-art-has_573378.jpg" --- # When religion becomes artificial, art has a duty to rescue… ![“When religion becomes artificial, art has a duty to rescue it. Art can show that the symbols which religions would have us believe literally true are actually figurative. Art can idealize those symbols, and so reveal the profound truths they contain.” quote by Richard Wagner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f39/richard-wagner-7708_art_when-religion-becomes-artificial-art-has_573378.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f39/richard-wagner-7708_art_when-religion-becomes-artificial-art-has_573378.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f39/richard-wagner-7708_art_when-religion-becomes-artificial-art-has_573378.jpg) > “When religion becomes artificial, art has a duty to rescue it. Art can show that the symbols which religions would have us believe literally true are actually figurative. Art can idealize those symbols, and so reveal the profound truths they contain.” [Richard Wagner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-wagner/) ## 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 reinterpret religious symbols, revealing deeper meanings beyond literal belief. **In simple terms:** Art reveals hidden truths in religious symbols. Key Takeaway Use art to explore and deepen spiritual ideas. Themes art religion interpretation Mood reflective critical Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - church services - public debates - educational curricula Key Concepts symbolism metaphor cultural critique Questions to Reflect On - Can art change religious perception? - What symbols need reinterpretation? A Different Perspective Art may be misinterpreted or dismissed. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Art](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/art/) [Artist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/artist/) [Duty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/duty/) [Profound](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/profound/) [Profound truth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/profound-truth/) [Religion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/religion/) [Symbols](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/symbols/) ## Related quotes > [One might say that where Religion becomes artificial, it is reserved for Art to save the spirit of religion.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-wagner/one-might-say-that-where-religion-becomes-artificial-it-is-reserved/) [Richard Wagner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-wagner/) > [“Art is short for artificial…so the art of art is to be as real as you can within this artificial situation… In a way…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joni-mitchell/art-is-short-for-artificial-so-the-art-of-art-is-to-be-as-real-as-you/) [Joni Mitchell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joni-mitchell/) > [When we think we don't like art it is because it is artificial art.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marianne-moore/when-we-think-we-don-t-like-art-it-is-because-it-is-artificial-art/) [Marianne Moore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marianne-moore/) > [We are all hungry and thirsty for concrete images.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/salvador-dali/we-are-all-hungry-and-thirsty-for-concrete-images/) [Salvador Dali](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/salvador-dali/) > [No matter how brilliant, amusing or intelligent the creek of abstraction, Dadaism, Minimalism and Conceptualism of the 20th century was, it didn't much affect…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-kostabi/no-matter-how-brilliant-amusing-or-intelligent-the-creek-of/) [Mark Kostabi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-kostabi/) > [Neither is there figurative and non-figurative art. All things appear to us in the shape of forms. Even in metaphysics ideas are expressed by…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pablo-picasso/neither-is-there-figurative-and-non-figurative-art-all-things-appear/) [Pablo Picasso](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pablo-picasso/) > [China is important to the world in that they are a force and on the move. Exposing them to figurative art opens up a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-macdonald/china-is-important-to-the-world-in-that-they-are-a-force-and-on-the/) [Richard MacDonald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-macdonald/) > [We are all hungry and thirsty for concrete images. Abstract art will have been good for one thing: to restore its exact virginity to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/salvador-dali/we-are-all-hungry-and-thirsty-for-concrete-images-abstract-art-will/) [Salvador Dali](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/salvador-dali/) > [What interests me is all the stuff that goes into abstract and abstract-figurative art. 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No, I believe they are philosophies with some good ideas and some fuckin' weird ones.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eddie-izzard/you-know-i-don-t-believe-that-religions-are-religions-no-i-believe/) [Eddie Izzard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eddie-izzard/) ## More by Richard Wagner > [Joy is not in things; it is in us.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-wagner/joy-is-not-in-things-it-is-in-us/) [Richard Wagner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-wagner/) > [My destiny is solitude, and my life is work.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-wagner/my-destiny-is-solitude-and-my-life-is-work/) [Richard Wagner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-wagner/) > [In contrast to reincarnation and karma, all other views seem petty and narrow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-wagner/in-contrast-to-reincarnation-and-karma-all-other-views-seem-petty-and/) [Richard Wagner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-wagner/) > [The oldest, truest, most beautiful organ of music, the origin to which alone our music owes its being, is the human voice.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-wagner/the-oldest-truest-most-beautiful-organ-of-music-the-origin-to-which/) [Richard Wagner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-wagner/) > [Any so-called stimulus program is a ruse. The government can increase its spending only by reducing private spending equivalently.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-wagner/any-so-called-stimulus-program-is-a-ruse-the-government-can-increase/) [Richard Wagner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-wagner/) > [I hate this fast growing tendency to chain men to machines in big factories and deprive them of all joy in their efforts -…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-wagner/i-hate-this-fast-growing-tendency-to-chain-men-to-machines-in-big/) [Richard Wagner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-wagner/) > [What a wonderful work Wagner has done for humanity in translating the toil of life into the readable script of music! For those who…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-wagner/what-a-wonderful-work-wagner-has-done-for-humanity-in-translating-the/) [Richard Wagner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-wagner/) > [Here, everything is tragic through and through, and the will, that fain would shape a world according to its wish, at last can reach…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-wagner/here-everything-is-tragic-through-and-through-and-the-will-that-fain/) [Richard Wagner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-wagner/) > [The error in the art-genre of Opera consists herein: a Means of expression (Music) has been made the end, while the End of expression…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-wagner/the-error-in-the-art-genre-of-opera-consists-herein-a-means-of/) [Richard Wagner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-wagner/) > [I have only a mind to live, to enjoy - i.e., to work as an artist, and produce my works; but not for the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-wagner/i-have-only-a-mind-to-live-to-enjoy-i-e-to-work-as-an-artist-and/) [Richard Wagner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-wagner/) > [Richard Wagner, a musician who wrote music which is better than it sounds.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-wagner/richard-wagner-a-musician-who-wrote-music-which-is-better-than-it/) [Richard Wagner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-wagner/) > [...you know my faithfulness to you, never can another own my heart, never - never - never...](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-wagner/you-know-my-faithfulness-to-you-never-can-another-own-my-heart-never/) [Richard Wagner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-wagner/) > [From its first faint glimmerings, History shews Man's constant progress as a beast of prey. As such he conquers every land, subdues the fruit-fed…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-wagner/from-its-first-faint-glimmerings-history-shews-man-s-constant/) [Richard Wagner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-wagner/) > [The measures and acts which show us violently disposed towards the outer world can never stay without a violent reaction on ourselves.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-wagner/the-measures-and-acts-which-show-us-violently-disposed-towards-the/) [Richard Wagner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-wagner/) > [We find personal success and great, if not enduring, influence on the outer fashioning of the world allotted to the violent, the passionate individual…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-wagner/we-find-personal-success-and-great-if-not-enduring-influence-on-the/) [Richard Wagner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-wagner/) [Explore all 83 Richard Wagner quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-wagner/) ## 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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