Art Quote by Rudyard Kipling
““Half a dozen epicene young pagans who haven’t even been to Algiers will tell you, first, that your notion is borrowed, and, secondly, that it isn’t Art. ‘This comes of my leaving town for a month. Dickie, you’ve been promenading among the toy-shops and hearing people talk.’ ‘I couldn’t help it,’ said Dick, penitently. ‘You weren’t here, and it was lonely these long evenings. A man can’t work for ever.’ ‘A man might have gone to a pub, and got decently drunk.””
About This Quote
Source Short story: “The Man Who Would Be King”, 1888
The narrator critiques pretentious art and superficial travel, exposing emptiness of borrowed ideas.
In simple terms: Fake art and shallow travel lack depth.
Key Takeaway
Seek authentic experiences and original thought.
Themes
art
travel
authenticity
Mood
critical
contemplative
Type
literary
philosophical
When to use this quote
- tourism
- creative work
- personal growth
Key Concepts
cultural appropriation
existentialism
Questions to Reflect On
- What defines true art?
- How does travel shape identity?
A Different Perspective
May overgeneralize artistic value.
![“[…] I began to see Algiers as one of the most fascinating and dramatic places on earth. In the small space of this beautiful but congested city intersected two great conflicts of the contemporary world. The first was the one between Christianity and Islam (expressed here in the clash between…” quote by Ryszard Kapuściński](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/e93/ryszard-kapuscinski-4233_algiers_i-began-to-see-algiers-as-one-of-the-mos_2135827.jpg)
![“People talk about [Bashar] Assad running Syria. He doesn't control his own country. He's down to about 20, 25 percent of the country. What is this fiction that he is somehow the only person who can save Syria? There's - with Assad there, there is no Syria. So that's what the Iranians and the…” quote by John F. Kerry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/f3d/john-f-kerry-996_assad_people-talk-about-bashar-assad-running-s_24339.jpg)
