--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I'm going out on a limb here and say that…" description: "\"“I'm going out on a limb here and say that I believe my morality should have no bearing on the discussion of the pictures I made. ... Oscar Wilde, when..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c99/sally-mann-15174_art_i-m-going-out-on-a-limb-here-and-say-tha_2051151.png" --- # I'm going out on a limb here and say that I believe my… ![“I'm going out on a limb here and say that I believe my morality should have no bearing on the discussion of the pictures I made. ... Oscar Wilde, when attacked in a similar ad hominem way, insisted that it is senseless to speak of morality when discussing art, asserting that the hypocritical…” quote by Sally Mann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c99/sally-mann-15174_art_i-m-going-out-on-a-limb-here-and-say-tha_2051151.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c99/sally-mann-15174_art_i-m-going-out-on-a-limb-here-and-say-tha_2051151.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c99/sally-mann-15174_art_i-m-going-out-on-a-limb-here-and-say-tha_2051151.png) > ““I'm going out on a limb here and say that I believe my morality should have no bearing on the discussion of the pictures I made. ... Oscar Wilde, when attacked in a similar ad hominem way, insisted that it is senseless to speak of morality when discussing art, asserting that the hypocritical, prudish, and philistine English public, when unable to find the art in a work of art, instead looked for the main in it.”” [Sally Mann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sally-mann/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Argues that moral judgments should not dictate artistic interpretation, echoing Wilde's view that art stands apart from morality **In simple terms:** Art should be judged on its own merits, not moral standards Key Takeaway Separate moral critique from artistic analysis Themes art criticism morality art theory Mood reflective defensive Type analytical philosophical When to use this quote - gallery exhibition - art education - public debate - media criticism Key Concepts Aesthetic autonomy ethical relativism Questions to Reflect On - How does separating morality from art affect its societal impact? - Can art be truly value‑free? A Different Perspective Moral judgments can still influence public reception and funding ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Art](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/art/) [Artist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/artist/) [Believe Morality](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/believe-morality-1316905/) [Morality](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/morality/) [Morality Bearing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/morality-bearing-3866605/) [Morality Discussing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/morality-discussing-3866604/) [Oscar wilde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/oscar-wilde/) [Speak Morality](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/speak-morality-2570989/) ## Related quotes > [Those who speak against the great do not usually speak from morality, but from envy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-savage-landor/those-who-speak-against-the-great-do-not-usually-speak-from-morality/) [Walter Savage Landor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-savage-landor/) > [The majority of parents are poor psychologists and give their children the most questionable moral trainings. It is perhaps in this domain that one…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-piaget/the-majority-of-parents-are-poor-psychologists-and-give-their/) [Jean Piaget](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-piaget/) > [I don't believe in morality . I'm a disciple of Bernard Shaw.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-bernard-shaw/i-don-t-believe-in-morality-i-m-a-disciple-of-bernard-shaw/) [George Bernard Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-bernard-shaw/) > [I don't believe in morality in architecture.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-graves/i-don-t-believe-in-morality-in-architecture/) [Michael Graves](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-graves/) > [It is hard to witness to truth to people who believe truth is relative. It is hard to proclaim the forgiveness of sins to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gene-veith/it-is-hard-to-witness-to-truth-to-people-who-believe-truth-is/) [Gene Veith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gene-veith/) > [Call me old-fashioned, but I believe that morality is not just a matter of opinion.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brian-dennehy/call-me-old-fashioned-but-i-believe-that-morality-is-not-just-a/) [Brian Dennehy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brian-dennehy/) > [I was brought up an atheist and have always remained so. But at no time was I led to believe that morality was unimportant…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nigella-lawson/i-was-brought-up-an-atheist-and-have-always-remained-so-but-at-no/) [Nigella Lawson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nigella-lawson/) > [“I believe that my own morality—which answers only to my heart—is more sure and true than the morality of those who do right only…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brandon-sanderson/i-believe-that-my-own-morality-which-answers-only-to-my-heart-is-more/) [Brandon Sanderson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brandon-sanderson/) > [The world is ruled by neither justice nor morality; crime is not punished nor virtue rewarded, one is forgotten as quickly as the other.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tadeusz-borowski/the-world-is-ruled-by-neither-justice-nor-morality-crime-is-not/) [Tadeusz Borowski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tadeusz-borowski/) > [“Just because I do not accept the teachings of the devotaries does not mean I've discarded a belief in right and wrong." "But the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brandon-sanderson/just-because-i-do-not-accept-the-teachings-of-the-devotaries-does-not/) [Brandon Sanderson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brandon-sanderson/) > [Of course, I can lie to you. But I believe that morality built on the truth is the most venerable. I want us to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/of-course-i-can-lie-to-you-but-i-believe-that-morality-built-on-the/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I believe in morality, which is doing right regardless of what I am told...not in religion which is doing what I am told regardless…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nishan-panwar/i-believe-in-morality-which-is-doing-right-regardless-of-what-i-am/) [Nishan Panwar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nishan-panwar/) > [If you believe something, you can have a morality that means something as well. You can feel recognized as an individual within the universe;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-self/if-you-believe-something-you-can-have-a-morality-that-means-something/) [Will Self](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-self/) > [If it be true, as I believe it is, that morality is dependent upon religion, then religion is not only the most practical thing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-jennings-bryan/if-it-be-true-as-i-believe-it-is-that-morality-is-dependent-upon/) [William Jennings Bryan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-jennings-bryan/) > [Must someone, some unseen thing, declare what is right for it to be right? I believe that my own morality - which answers only…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brandon-sanderson/must-someone-some-unseen-thing-declare-what-is-right-for-it-to-be/) [Brandon Sanderson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brandon-sanderson/) ## More by Sally Mann > [My main interest was finding boyfriends. I'd park myself in the bookstore and read with one eye on everyone coming in.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sally-mann/my-main-interest-was-finding-boyfriends-i-d-park-myself-in-the/) [Sally Mann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sally-mann/) > [Unless you photograph what you love, you're not going to make good art.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sally-mann/unless-you-photograph-what-you-love-you-re-not-going-to-make-good-art/) [Sally Mann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sally-mann/) > [“I struggle with enormous discrepancies: between the reality of motherhood and the image of it, between my love for my home and the need…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sally-mann/i-struggle-with-enormous-discrepancies-between-the-reality-of/) [Sally Mann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sally-mann/) > [“If you want to keep a memory pristine, you must not call upon it too often, for each time it is revisited, you alter…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sally-mann/if-you-want-to-keep-a-memory-pristine-you-must-not-call-upon-it-too/) [Sally Mann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sally-mann/) > [Sometimes, when I get a good picture, it feels like I have taken another nervous step into increasingly rarified air. Each good-news picture, no…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sally-mann/sometimes-when-i-get-a-good-picture-it-feels-like-i-have-taken/) [Sally Mann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sally-mann/) > [One of the things my career as an artist might say to young artists is: The things that are close to you are the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sally-mann/one-of-the-things-my-career-as-an-artist-might-say-to-young-artists/) [Sally Mann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sally-mann/) > [If it doesn’t have ambiguity, don’t bother to take it. I love that, that aspect of photography—the mendacity of photography—it’s got to have some…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sally-mann/if-it-doesn-t-have-ambiguity-don-t-bother-to-take-it-i-love-that-that/) [Sally Mann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sally-mann/) > [There is a great quote from a female writer. She said, 'If you don't break out in a sweat of fear when you write,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sally-mann/there-is-a-great-quote-from-a-female-writer-she-said-if-you-don-t/) [Sally Mann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sally-mann/) > [When the good pictures come, we hope they tell truths, but truths 'told slant,' just as Emily Dickinson commanded.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sally-mann/when-the-good-pictures-come-we-hope-they-tell-truths-but-truths-told/) [Sally Mann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sally-mann/) > [All the good pictures that came so easily now make the next set of pictures virtually impossible in your mind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sally-mann/all-the-good-pictures-that-came-so-easily-now-make-the-next-set-of/) [Sally Mann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sally-mann/) > [ I’m so worried that I’m going to perfect \[my\] technique someday. I have to say its unfortunate how many of my pictures do depend… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sally-mann/i-m-so-worried-that-i-m-going-to-perfect-my-technique-someday-i-have/) [Sally Mann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sally-mann/) > [The things that are close to you are the things you can photograph the best,](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sally-mann/the-things-that-are-close-to-you-are-the-things-you-can-photograph/) [Sally Mann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sally-mann/) > [Like all photographers, I depend on serendipity, and when you're photographing children there's often an abundance of it. I would have an idea of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sally-mann/like-all-photographers-i-depend-on-serendipity-and-when-you-re/) [Sally Mann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sally-mann/) > [I’m past photographing to see what things look like photographed.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sally-mann/i-m-past-photographing-to-see-what-things-look-like-photographed/) [Sally Mann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sally-mann/) > [What is truth in photography? It can be told in a hundred different ways. Every thirtieth of a second when the shutter snaps, its…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sally-mann/what-is-truth-in-photography-it-can-be-told-in-a-hundred-different/) [Sally Mann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sally-mann/) [Explore all 44 Sally Mann quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sally-mann/) ## 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](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/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": "“I'm going out on a limb here and say that I believe my morality should have no bearing on the discussion of the pictures I made. ... 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