--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: If an art has for its function to…" description: "\"If an art has for its function to represent manners and people, I do not see how it can avoid systematizing its sensibility to the extent of showing so..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9bb/wyndham-lewis-7767_absurd_if-an-art-has-for-its-function-to-repres_1119910.png" --- # If an art has for its function to represent manners and… ![“If an art has for its function to represent manners and people, I do not see how it can avoid systematizing its sensibility to the extent of showing some figures much as Molière, for instance, did, as absurd or detestable.” quote by Wyndham Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9bb/wyndham-lewis-7767_absurd_if-an-art-has-for-its-function-to-repres_1119910.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9bb/wyndham-lewis-7767_absurd_if-an-art-has-for-its-function-to-repres_1119910.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9bb/wyndham-lewis-7767_absurd_if-an-art-has-for-its-function-to-repres_1119910.png) > “If an art has for its function to represent manners and people, I do not see how it can avoid systematizing its sensibility to the extent of showing some figures much as Molière, for instance, did, as absurd or detestable.” [Wyndham Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wyndham-lewis/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Art reflects society but also shapes it, often simplifying or exaggerating traits, as Molière did with absurdity. **In simple terms:** Art mirrors and molds culture, sometimes using exaggeration. Key Takeaway Recognize art’s power to influence perception. Themes art culture representation Mood analytical critical Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - theatre - literature - visual arts Key Concepts satire social critique Questions to Reflect On - How does satire affect public opinion? - When does representation become distortion? A Different Perspective Exaggeration can misrepresent reality. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Absurd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/absurd/) [Art](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/art/) [Artist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/artist/) [Figures](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/figures/) [Figures Molière](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/figures-moli-re-3024769/) [Function](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/function/) [Ifs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ifs/) [Instance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/instance/) [Manners](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/manners/) [People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people/) [Represent Manners](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/represent-manners-3024767/) [Sensibility](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sensibility/) [Systematizing Sensibility](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/systematizing-sensibility-3024768/) ## Related quotes > [A successful director is someone who has the combination of skills that you can learn, but there's also an intuitive sensibility that they bring…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rick-heinrichs/a-successful-director-is-someone-who-has-the-combination-of-skills/) [Rick Heinrichs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rick-heinrichs/) > [I think Chicago people are very special people, and the Midwest's confluence of East Coast-meets-Midwest sensibilities had to, on a formative level, inform me…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-sunjata/i-think-chicago-people-are-very-special-people-and-the-midwest-s/) [Daniel Sunjata](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniel-sunjata/) > [For every one pupil who needs to be guarded against a weak excess of sensibility there are three who need to be awakened from…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/for-every-one-pupil-who-needs-to-be-guarded-against-a-weak-excess-of/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“I wanted to get the tears out of the way so I could act sensibly.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-didion/i-wanted-to-get-the-tears-out-of-the-way-so-i-could-act-sensibly/) [Joan Didion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-didion/) > [The idea that the creative endeavor and mind-altering substances are entwined is one of the great pop-intellectual myths of our time. ... 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JoyBell C](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-joybell-c/) > [ I went to NYU graduate film school and met Pam \[Romanowsky\], and after doing a few things with her I thought she had the… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-franco/i-went-to-nyu-graduate-film-school-and-met-pam-romanowsky-and-after/) [James Franco](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-franco/) > [My 'Idea of India' calls not just for tolerance, but a celebration of all points of view. 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The robing and disrobing: that is the true traffic…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/antonio-machado/the-truly-erotic-sensibility-in-evoking-the-image-of-woman-never/) [Antonio Machado](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/antonio-machado/) > [As a social and as a personal force, religion has become a dependent variable. It does not originate; it reacts. It does not denounce;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-wright-mills/as-a-social-and-as-a-personal-force-religion-has-become-a-dependent/) [C. Wright Mills](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-wright-mills/) > [He brought a sensibility and a hard-edged reasonableness to operating restaurants that had a lasting impact on me and still affects how I run…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joe-bastianich/he-brought-a-sensibility-and-a-hard-edged-reasonableness-to-operating/) [Joe Bastianich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joe-bastianich/) > [While Socrates empties the cup of poison with unshaken soul,Christ exclaims,'If it is possible, let this cup pass from me'.Christ in this respect is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ludwig-feuerbach/while-socrates-empties-the-cup-of-poison-with-unshaken-soul-christ/) [Ludwig Feuerbach](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ludwig-feuerbach/) ## More by Wyndham Lewis > [Surely to root politics out of art is a highly necessary undertaking: for the freedom of art, like that of science, depends entirely upon…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wyndham-lewis/surely-to-root-politics-out-of-art-is-a-highly-necessary-undertaking/) [Wyndham Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wyndham-lewis/) > [Prostration is our natural position. 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They become third-rate poets during their courtship.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wyndham-lewis/with-most-people-not-describable-as-artists-all-the-finer-part-of/) [Wyndham Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wyndham-lewis/) > [Spain is an overflow of sombreness . . . a strong and threatening tide of history meets you at the frontier.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wyndham-lewis/spain-is-an-overflow-of-sombreness-a-strong-and-threatening-tide-of/) [Wyndham Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wyndham-lewis/) > [For the first rate poet, nothing short of a Queen or a Chimera is adequate for the powers of his praise.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wyndham-lewis/for-the-first-rate-poet-nothing-short-of-a-queen-or-a-chimera-is/) [Wyndham Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wyndham-lewis/) > [Sex is of the same clay as Time! -- of the same clay Since both are in their essence but One-Way Time is the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wyndham-lewis/sex-is-of-the-same-clay-as-time-of-the-same-clay-since-both-are-in/) [Wyndham Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wyndham-lewis/) > [When we say 'science' we can either mean any manipulation of the inventive and organizing power of the human intellect: or we can mean…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wyndham-lewis/when-we-say-science-we-can-either-mean-any-manipulation-of-the/) [Wyndham Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wyndham-lewis/) > [No American worth his salt should go looking around for a root. 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